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Flying

Do any of you guys still fly maybe for your jobs ? I used to and hated it, flew all over the world but haven’t flown anywhere since I retired 4 years ago, I was on the road, I mean the air for 75% every year, told the director I would not do it any more, he was surprised I put up with that long. I do not miss it at all. I have been watching “ Air Disasters “ on TV lately. After watching that show you do not want to take a step on an aircraft.

I don't but incidentally my oldest son and his wife were on their way from Athens Greece flying into Montreal Canada earlier today, an about 12 hour flight, and they had to divert into Goose Bay Labrador (which they turn back to since they were a hundred or so miles past there when the flight diverted) because someone was having an allergic reaction of some sort. I guess it was a good thing it didn't happen mid Atlantic.

That’s a long flight for them F4, 12 hour flight is a challenge, I have done many, sucks. Somebody probably ate some peanuts they shouldn’t have. I know this is personal, don’t have to respond but how many sons have you had, I had 3 sons, all beautiful, lost one from a severe asthma attack but it was my joy bringing them up, yes 3 boys, was not easy.

Do you ever travel by car? Your chance of being killed in an auto accident are much higher.

I also traveled at lot for work over the course of several decades. More I did it, less I liked it. And I actually trained to fly and maintain aircraft extensively in the military, so I'm not devoid of knowledge or experience in this area.

The problem with the auto accident comparison is that, like a lot of other statistics, they can reflect different things depending how the data is presented and considered.

For one, there are a lot more people who have been in car accidents that were without fatalities, than there are people who were in aircraft crashes with no fatalities.

Most everyone knows someone who's been in a car accident and didn't die.

I'd guess that while car accidents are more common, they involve fatalities far less often.

Anyone got statistics that actually consider the fatalities per incident when there *is* a crash? (Not this 'per miles traveled' business, which to me seems inherently misleading)

I flew a lot in the past but unfortunately I can't get on a plane since suffering from crippling anxiety after nearly dying from COVID 5 years ago. I didn't help that the 2 previous flights I'd had prior to that were horrible.

Hopefully one day I'll be able to fly again.

Flying scares me.

Yeah, you always look like you're trying to strangle the yoke!

<snicker>

Being a pilot yourself OG, you would know. PM, I don’t drive anymore, haven’t driven in almost 4 years now but you are correct that flying is less dangerous than driving. I was never afraid of flying but just didn’t enjoy the experience.

Don't get me wrong, the few times I've had opportunity to fly a plane (RL) it's been fascinating. And trusting the (growing number of) idiots that are among decent drivers is a frightening prospect, for sure.

But that doesn't change the fact that more people walk away from car crashes than plane crashes. And in that respect I think the commonly cited "flying is safer than driving" is misleading.

I think that properly compiled numbers would show that if you're ever in a plane crash, your odds of surviving without life-changing injury are very slim. In car crashes, even if you're injured, it's not life-changing nearly as often.

Yes kk, you are probably right. Statistics can be manipulated for any desirable results.

Depends on what kind of plane.

Elaborate?

We're not talking jet fighters, to be clear. Passenger aircraft, maybe GA - but even that is a stretch. Basically, to be meaningful, it has to be constrained to things equally accessible to anyone who could take a car.

I'll stick with my walker for now, no driving, no flying. My friend has his GA pilots license and let me fly his Cessna couple of times. Taking off was easy, landing is another story though, use all 4 of your limbs, one arm on the wheel, other arm on the throttle, and your feet on the rudder control.

On one of my last flights, we were gear down on a very bumpy final approach in high winds and a HUGE gust hit us from the side and we were momentarily at a 45 degree angle, which is not a great place to be in a 737 close to the ground. I could almost feel the pilot's panic as he corrected, throttled up and retracted the gear. We ended up diverting to another airport 80 miles away and made a wild landing there.

My experiencing a high speed collision as a passenger in a first generation Honda Civic where we hit a full sized truck was FUN in comparison to that, or even to the 3.5 hours worth of strong turbulence we had beforehand.

This.

Having been in ~10 car accidents over my lifespan, I've suffered no injuries at all to speak of (thank the good Lord).

I somehow doubt I'd be as fortunate if I'd been in 10 plane crashes (especially and notably if they'd involved other planes, as is often the case with cars). Probably wouldn't even be here to discuss it (not a statistic, a guess).

I think that, among a ton of other "contributing factors", the big difference is gravity.

Cars aren't typically anything greater than say a few feet from the ground, and not usually within that same distance of a large body of water. I believe that alone makes a tremendous difference in the two.

(The second biggest factor is probably speed; cars seldom do 500+mph)

You shouldn't go to bed.

Most people die in their bed, it's dangerous.

It's better to sleep in the pilot's seat

Funny RL, I think you are right.