Today, air travel has become so popular that aircraft in terms of frequency of use for tourists have become equal to cars and trains. However, air travel seems to many very dangerous and not entirely reliable. Is this really so, how do our ideas about the dangers of air travel correlate with statistics, and how often do planes crash?
Choosing a vehicle for travel
During the long-awaited holidays and long holidays, many are faced with the problem of choosing the type of transport for traveling abroad to hot beaches or snow-covered ski resorts. And it is complex, because many factors must be correlated, such as ease of movement, the price tag for the trip itself and, most importantly, safety. Let's look at statistical studies and find out how often planes fall and whether the scale of it is really as fatal as it seems to people.
Trains are safer - confusing or not?
According to statistical studies, the train is the safest type of movement for people. Slightly higher rating for the train. Airplanes do not cause trust at all in the world population. Only sixteen percent of respondents believe in their full reliability. If you take into account cars, their safety rating is generally low, because they are initially considered very traumatic for traveling over long distances.
However, in the struggle between different modes of transport, the reliability criterion is not so simple. Aircraft according to many years of research by experts on aircraft crashes and statistical studies are rightfully recognized as the safest mode of transport. Nevertheless, people, despite official scientific evidence, still do not trust them. Why it happens? Maybe the news that the plane crashed somewhere scares tourists very much? Let's understand the situation.
The plane is not safe ?!
Statistics, although an exact science, but the final result is very dependent on the calculation method. When determining the level of aircraft safety, the number of tragic events for the total number of kilometers of flights is taken. This type of calculation is mainly used by statisticians, and it is its results that are published in official sources.
The whole secret lies in the fact that disasters in their majority occur at the time of takeoffs and landings. On the way, an airplane crash is much less common. But this method of calculation is very beneficial for transport companies, and they very often use it so as not to discourage tourists from choosing to fly specifically for air travel. Nevertheless, such an indicator as those killed in a plane crash (their number) during accidents on takeoff and landing, is acquiring a very large scale.
If we take into account the calculation of tragic cases for the total kilometer of movement, then the most dangerous will be two types of movements - a motorcycle and walking. Just look at the summary of the tragic moments in any city and you can see that there are a lot of pedestrians dying, even more than motorcyclists.
If you study the other methods of statistical research, then here the plane for safety will give way to the train. For example, in terms of the number of deaths of passengers, the number of trips and the speed of air travel are the most unfavorable.
When considering other research methods, it turns out that it is best to choose trains for travel. So, it is not without reason that tourists are in a fever from the mere news that the plane crashed, and a trip by rail rightfully has a safety advantage in the minds of people.
Rating of the safest airlines
Be that as it may, you still have to fly, as there are such resorts where you simply cannot reach any other means of transport, but you really want to. Despite poor forecasts, negative reviews and gloomy opinions, our country is still not the weakest in terms of flight safety. But the United States has a fairly long period of time occupying a leading position in the fall of aircraft. If you build a rating for countries that own aircraft, then we can say that the top five include Finland, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the UAE. It is the companies of this five that are worth flying, and then no air disaster will be scary. Russia in this rating is in sixteenth place with Transaero.
Reasons for the crash of aircraft
Why are planes falling? Tourists, first of all, before choosing an airline prefer companies with the most "young" modes of transport by their operating life. Nevertheless, this is not at all confirmed by statistical data. According to them, in Russia, the company with the most worn-out fleet is Aeroflot. The age of operation of its aircraft is less than five years. However, Finland, which occupies a leading position in flight safety and a small number of crashes, has a period of operation of its machines for more than nine years.
This fact indicates that the crash of an aircraft due to wear and tear and operating life is unlikely. Choosing an airline by the criterion of a small age limit for its transport, the probability of a fall does not decrease at all. If we turn to statistics, we can see that a greater number of air crashes occur due to the human factor, and there is no getting around it.
How to overcome fear of flying: tips
How to overcome your fear of flying, because there are situations when traveling by plane simply can not be avoided. Psychologists give practical advice on this subject. If fear is caused by any disorders in the psyche, whether it is a fear of heights, panic attacks or a fear of a small enclosed space, then these problems need to be addressed.
Nevertheless, in many cases the fear is caused by the lack of full personal control over the situation and flight safety. This must be taken as inevitable, because any movement in transport depends on us a little. Therefore, it is recommended that when you fly, just relax and distract from bad thoughts by watching a movie on your tablet or listening to pleasant music. Never use alcohol as a stress reliever. In fact, if he dulls the nervous state, it will not be for long, and then the problem will only worsen. Fear of flights must be addressed primarily with oneself. There’s no need to just get on your nerves, taking into account the information of news channels about how often planes fall, and you just need to calm down and try to take control of your emotions.
Which planes are most likely to crash?
If we turn to global statistics, the Boeing can be considered the most unreliable, the second in the number of falls is An, and Il is in third place. If we turn to Russian research, we can see that the most “falling” in our country will be “An”. Why are planes falling? In 2005 alone, as many as nine cars of this brand crashed in Russia. In the world, they account for nineteen percent of all disasters.
The reasons for the crash in Russia are explained by journalists in one way - the outdated transport fleet of domestic companies. Is this really so and how often do planes crash for this reason?
The reasons for the crash of Russian aircraft
In general, the aging of air transport is expressed not in the number of years past after its production, but in the amount of hours flown and the general technical condition. According to statistics, Russia still has Soviet-era aircraft, and their percentage is much higher than foreign-made units. However, do not look at age. Compared to foreign ships, domestic flew much fewer hours, and the Soviet quality of production was one of the best in the world.
For what reason then does Russia acquire foreign aircraft for a lot of money when it has its own completely reliable aircraft? An example is Tu aircraft. They have excellent flight safety statistics, and pilots consider them the most convenient in terms of technical design.
One of the reasons is the fact that Tu aircraft are very expensive in terms of the amount of fuel consumed. And since air travel has long turned into a separate type of business, company directors, in the pursuit of reducing the cost of servicing their fleet, prefer foreign liners, which are much more economical than their Russian counterparts.
Another reason is the fading production of new aircraft in Russia . The technologies for their production are significantly outdated; investments in aircraft plants are not being implemented. Therefore, our country cannot compete with more advanced foreign units.
How to save the situation?
In Russia, in order to stabilize the situation with the aircraft manufacturing market, the President signed a decree on the creation of the United Aircraft Corporation. Moreover, ten billion dollars in investments were planned in aircraft manufacturing plants. It was back in 2006. Currently, the situation has not improved a bit. The process of formation of the corporation was very slowed down and, according to reporters, the purpose of its creation was not to study the market of competitors, but to unite all the assets of Russian airlines in one place.
Nevertheless, there are positive developments. The Ilyushin Finance company has acquired IL and Tu aircraft from Russia. The Tashkent Production Association has concluded an agreement with St. Petersburg Airlines for the supply of Il aircraft to Russia, most of which will be of Russian equipment.
What you need to know about the crash?
No one is safe from the fall of an aircraft. However, if you have the necessary information about what happens when the plane crashes, there is a chance to survive the crash. In the nineties, an accident occurred with the liner "B-707". The dead in the crash totaled hundreds of people. Nevertheless, five passengers took advantage of the information from the instructions of the stewardess and survived.
In some cases, there is a chance to be saved if you have the necessary knowledge. They are not as useless as it seems at first glance. Knowing what happens when an airplane crashes, you can apply a lot of effective methods for your own safety.
As the main ways to protect ourselves, as the statistics of air crashes show us, is the observance of precautionary measures. First of all, it is necessary, if possible, to remain in shoes and clothes. This will be a fire protection. Remove all foreign objects from the clothing pockets and fasten the seat belt tightly. It is allowed to remove it only after a special command of the stewardess.
Immediately before the accident, if there is such a possibility, it is necessary to adopt a protective position - you need to bend as low as possible and very tightly clasp your hands under the knees. The head should be laid on them, and if this cannot be done, then lower it as far as possible. Feet should rest against the floor as tightly as possible. Such a technique, and it completely proves the statistics of air crashes, often saves the lives of passengers in the event of a plane crash.
Finally
As you can see, flying is not such a terrible thing. The main thing is to use tickets for flights that are only time-tested by airlines and with a small number of airline crashes, as well as comply with the safety requirements for aircraft passengers, so that then the experts do not have to study the black box of the falling plane, on which you flew to rest in a warm country. Safe flights and successful take-offs!