How is a plane safer than a car or whatever ? as in crashing or death

[Unimportant]

You guys need to watch some "air-crash investigation" episodes. They explain all this stuff in detail while being very entertaining.

 

Landing a plane on water is extremely risky, it has to be done just right or one risks cartwheeling with the plane breaking up, etc. US 1549 was an exception, not the norm. Take a look at Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 to get an idea of what is more likely to happen. The main problem is the engines mounted underneath the wings on modern jets, the engines act like large scoops that get stuck (scoop) the water. Older planes like a Mcdonnell douglas DC9 had the engines at the back, above the wings, and made a better chance at ditching successfully. It's less (fuel)efficient tough so that design is no longer in use.

 

A plane most definitely sinks very quickly, US1549 was lucky to ditch in a river in a crowded city with lots of pleasure boats nearby which came to the rescue immediately.

 

To see a situation where all engines fail take a look at the episode titled "Gimli Glider". The captain managed to glide his Boeing 767 to safety. One of the cool things being the ram air turbine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_air_turbine) that automatically deploys upon power failure and helps produce energy for basic instruments and hydraulics.

 

 

 

[jeffmeyer5295]

When people say 'A plane is more safe than a car', they are not inferring you are more likely to survive a crash, because you're not. They're inferring you're less likely to crash in the first place, thus making it a safer means of travel.

 

[Sauron]

It's a matter of statistics; a much smaller percentage of planes have mortal accidents compared to cars. When someone says "it's safer to travel by plane" they mean "you're far less likely to die in an accident if you travel by plane". If you DO get in an accident, you obviosly don't stand much of a chance (although you're not guaranteed to die either).

[jeffmeyer5295]

4 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Well, most pilots aren't drunk, texting and flying, and so on. 

-snip-

Yeah.. Them boring pilots..

 

[Drak3]

1 hour ago, valdyrgramr said:

most pilots aren't drunk, texting and flying, and so on.

They don't text and fly because they don't get cell service...

 

And as for the drunken pilot thing, while times might have changed recently, commercial pilots could have a drink or two. Just not shotgun the airport bar between every flight.

[Drak3]

Just now, valdyrgramr said:

I mean even if the pilot got a little "tipsy" they also have a co-pilot who is more than likely sober.

You mean their assigned drinking buddy?

 

1 minute ago, valdyrgramr said:

they also are supposed to turn them off due to "policy". 

Assuming they follow it.

[Gale]

1 hour ago, valdyrgramr said:

Well, most pilots aren't drunk, texting and flying, and so on

True. Most of them just fall asleep.

[killcomic]

Really people, landing a plane on water is not a safe option to crashing. A plane will hit the water hard and shit will brake and most, if not all, will die.

When something goes catastrophically wrong, you have a much better chance of survival in a car than in a plane, although the chances of something going wrong in a plane are lower than in a car.

[DimasRMDO]

18 hours ago, WolfLoverPro said:

if they land in sea that = drowning or ......... you know get eatonj by a shark lol

They've got safety equipment (raft, life vest, etc.).

Shark attack is pretty rare, if somebody's bleeding though.... Different story.

Too many people have watched Jaws, creating fear. Honestly I'm afraid of sharks myself.

 

Landing on the sea is still hard but hitting something (potentially in high speed) in a car on land?

In a car, the sudden change in speed in short period of time when crashing can give bigger impact. You've got airbags and other safety features in a car, I still find many reports regarding death from car crash.

[Mooshi]

Is this..post serious? lol

 

Have you looked up lately? Notice the lack of gridlock traffic and things to hit high up?

[Froody129]

You took a very fair question and then suddenly made it super aggressive, no need for a tone where it feels like I'm being framed for something...

 

Anyway, planes have a lot more safety tech in them, and are held to much tighter regulations regarding that equipment. It also helps that it's trained professionals flying and not some dumbass on crack barreling along the highway at 250

[Blasteque]

21 hours ago, pinksnowbirdie said:

Not to mention the training of pilots vs drivers especially help.

 

 

....And also not to mention maintenance and on-going certification.  Any FAA (or equivalent) certified commercial aircraft is in, and has been proven to be with countless inspections, within a very tightly controlled set of specifications.  If your car got the attention an airliner got, it would be waaay more expensive, way more costly to run, but would basically never fail (to a significant statistical degree anyway).

 

As for safety, according to the US National Transportation Safety Board, the chances of your death being caused by a car accident is 1 in 114, by airplane is 1 in 9821. 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

21 hours ago, wasab said:

Give me prove? A plane is all aluminum with hollow space inside. It has more than enough buoyancy to float on liquid water.

It probably will if it was placed gently on the water. Though in most ditching attempts, the impact essentially rips apart the structure. 

Especially when the engines are underneath the wing, the moment they contact the water, they gonna get sheared right off and the structure basically unravels.  

[Uncle Pockets]

I love the whole this is safer then that argument.

 

they say they are safer because there are less plains, so compared to cars less people die in them, on average  3,287  people die a DAY from car accidents. in SMALL plane accidents there is about 500 deaths YEARLY,  in big plane crashes there is even less, from what I read there was 88 deaths in 2017 from planes. also a ton of planes that fly are for shipping and not carrying people so not all of them have people only the pilot and co pilot. 

 

to drive a car you don't need to be pro, I got my license after only driving about 12 times total in my life before that and thats was all in town driving nothing dangerous or that really tested my skill, now to be a pilot you need a shit ton of training and classes and flight sims and all that jazz. 

 

this is like having a person who read a few books and watched a few videos and maybe drew blood a few times do your surgery, VS a person surgeon who spends a shit ton of time and money to have the skill to that job and wants to be doing that, not everyone who is driving WANTS to drive, they do to get from point A to point B, and then all the factors like a driver being a normal not working they might be drink or high or overly tired VS a pilot who is paid to fly you, yes you hear about pilots getting drunk and banging hookers and shit on the plain but I bet that happens more while diving then flying. 

 

you also have to think, flying in the air what are you going to crash into? a bird is the worst thing you'll hit yes a bird can take down a whole plane. a car has tons of shit you can crash into, when dirving you need to pay attention, when flying im sure they chill and do shit while flying on autopilot 

[Uncle Pockets]

32 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

It probably will if it was placed gently on the water. Though in most ditching attempts, the impact essentially rips apart the structure. 

Especially when the engines are underneath the wing, the moment they contact the water, they gonna get sheared right off and the structure basically unravels.  

how about the pilot who landed a plain in the Hudson river 

 

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2016/08/10/miracle-on-the-hudson-faa-cockpit-recordings-2009-sot.cnn

[AnonymousGuy]

3 hours ago, Mooshi said:

Is this..post serious? lol

 

Have you looked up lately? Notice the lack of gridlock traffic and things to hit high up?

Tangent, but I once saw another commercial jet flying 90 degrees to the plane I was in, probably 1000 feet below us.  You don't really understand how fast these things are traveling until you see one zoom past at ridiculous pace "oh here it comes...annnd it's gone".

 

There is a LOT of traffic in the sky it's just exceptionally well organized traffic, and you have the Z-axis of elevation to work with too.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

23 minutes ago, Uncle Pockets said:

how about the pilot who landed a plain in the Hudson river 

 

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2016/08/10/miracle-on-the-hudson-faa-cockpit-recordings-2009-sot.cnn

No concrete facts on how that was a success. Possible due to the fact the a320 is shorter so it's less prone for the tail to shear off (speculation). But there are certainly many ditching attempts that weren't so lucky. TUX1153 broke apart upon impact, the tail sheared off Angara Airlines Flight 5007 when it ditched, Laoag International Airlines Flight 585 broke apart upon impact, and then there's the Ethiopian 767 in the video above.

 

All I can speculate is it's a combination of luck, pilot skill, and aircraft design. Airbus for example has a ditching mode where it closes valves and openings to slow down flooding. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

I'm sure this has been said before.

 

When someone says "planes are safer than cars", they're talking about the statistical probability of you dying in an accident compared to some other metric, usually distanced traveled or something.

 

Objectively speaking as well, planes are much safer to travel in than cars because:

• Planes are operated by pilots who were professionally trained and have many hours of experience. Whereas the average car is operated by someone who probably got a crash course on the basics by someone who isn't a professional.
• Planes are religiously well taken care of, even in less economically sound places (compared to the US anyway). Lots of people barely take care of their cars.
• Often times in planes, a lot of incidents that don't immediately take down the plane require the plane to go back for an immediate maintenance checkup. Whereas with cars, lots of people ignore their check engine light and wait until something actually blows up before fixing something.
• When one plane has an incident that's worrisome, usually the airline company will check all planes it has of the same model to make sure it doesn't have issues. Sometimes the airspace authority (like the FAA) will mandate that every airline with planes of that model must be checked. This doesn't happen with cars unless a recall is issued, and even then, recalls aren't mandatory for you to do.
• Traffic management for planes is a well orchestrated event, and I'm sure punishments for deviating beyond ATC mandates are harsh. Traffic management for cars isn't really orchestrated beyond traffic lights.

[killcomic]

7 hours ago, Uncle Pockets said:

how about the pilot who landed a plain in the Hudson river 

 

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2016/08/10/miracle-on-the-hudson-faa-cockpit-recordings-2009-sot.cnn

Anecdotal evidence is not evidence. It made news because it was a fluke that should have killed all on board. 

[killcomic]

11 hours ago, DimasRMDO said:

They've got safety equipment (raft, life vest, etc.).

Shark attack is pretty rare, if somebody's bleeding though.... Different story.

Too many people have watched Jaws, creating fear. Honestly I'm afraid of sharks myself.

 

Landing on the sea is still hard but hitting something (potentially in high speed) in a car on land?

In a car, the sudden change in speed in short period of time when crashing can give bigger impact. You've got airbags and other safety features in a car, I still find many reports regarding death from car crash.

When you are going at over 300 KM/H, hitting the water is like hitting a brick wall.

Of course you find many reports of people dying in cars because many more people drive cars versus fly planes.
Look at reports of planes going down in the middle of the sea(or anywhere for that matter) and see how many survivors you get. Most of the time everyone dies. 

Most people have been in a car crash at some point. Most of them are inconsequential. How many people have walked away from a plane crash?

 

Facts are:

1) Plane crashes are rarer than car crashes.

2) A plane crash is deadlier than a car crash.

 

You have far more chance of being involved in a car crash than a plane crash, but you're more likely to walk away from a car crash than a plane crash.

[TheKDub]

On 7/26/2018 at 3:48 PM, WolfLoverPro said:

look they say planes are safer

 

OK TELL ME THIS

 

IF THE ENGINE CUTS OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEA BTICH YOU ARE FUKED AINT YOU>>??? YEAH EACTLY

look they say cars are safer

 

OK TELL ME THIS

 

IF THE ENGINE CUTS OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY BTICH YOU ARE FUKED AINT YOU>>??? YEAH EACTLY

 

 

Jokes aside, there's less "traffic" in the air (though hitting something does significantly more damage), and the pilots are highly trained, whereas the roads are packed full of idiots that shouldn't be allowed to drive.

[DimasRMDO]

46 minutes ago, killcomic said:

When you are going at over 300 KM/H, hitting the water is like hitting a brick wall.

Typed my previous reply when I was sleepy.

How could I ignore this???

Yes you're right, I completely forgot about this one.

[AlwaysFSX]

On 7/26/2018 at 1:48 PM, WolfLoverPro said:

look they say planes are safer

 

OK TELL ME THIS

 

IF THE ENGINE CUTS OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEA BTICH YOU ARE FUKED AINT YOU>>??? YEAH EACTLY

You only need one engine to fly a plane..

[handymanshandle]

12 hours ago, AlwaysFSX said:

You only need one engine to fly a plane..

and like I said, planes can glide for quite a long while.

Someone already mentioned it but the gimli glider is an example of such incident where the plane lost all engine power from fuel starvation. The reason the engines were starved of fuel was because of unit conversions and the switch from Imperial to Metric.

 

But everyone survived and the plane was able to be repaired and returned to service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

 

[AlwaysFSX]

4 minutes ago, pinksnowbirdie said:

and like I said, planes can glide for quite a long while.

Someone already mentioned it but the gimli glider is an example of such incident where the plane lost all engine power from fuel starvation. The reason the engines were starved of fuel was because of unit conversions and the switch from Imperial to Metric.

 

But everyone survived and the plane was able to be repaired and returned to service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

 

Granted if you're in the middle of the ocean you won't be making it to land. But flotation devices exist and water landings are taught for a reason. It's not like ATC won't know you're going down if any of your radios are working.