At AllWorld.com, we routinely cover some of the best and nicest spots in the world, reviewing countless hotels, resorts, restaurants, bars, beaches, activities, and even countries for you intrepid travelers. However, from time to time, we also delve into how to get to all of those fantastic destinations, with info about airlines, airports, and other travel tips.
Therefore, we have an ongoing series on airline safety that is required reading for any frequent flyer or just casual vacationer.
This is part two of that series, with more airline safety facts and tips:
There’s no denying that lifting off in a huge hunk of metal and then flying halfway across the world in this behemoth, wondering how it stays aloft, before landing gently can be nervewracking and downright scary.
It seems like every time we turn on the news, there’s another report of another tragic plane crash with hundreds of deaths, right? Well, not really, actually.
In fact, airline crashes (and minor accidents) take place at a rate of only 1 in every 1.2 million flights. Your odds of perishing in a plane crash are only 1 in 11 million, while the chances you die in a car crash are 1 in 5,000 over your lifetime!
Even more assuring is that when airplanes do crash, the passengers and crew usually live. I know this is counterintuitive, as that massive, heavy metal objects falls and collides with the ground at a high rate, but it’s true.
Check this out: a study of plane crashes between 1983 and 2000 found that of the 53,487 passengers and crew on board, 51,207 survived. That means 95.7% plane crash victims live, and even 76% of people on board during serious crashes end up surviving.
In this ongoing series, we’ll also answer some of your pressing questions about air travel and safety.
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When do most plane crashes take place?
Should you be tense and white-knuckled the whole time you’re in the air? Actually, about 80% of plane crashes occur during the first 3 minutes of taking off or during the last 8 minutes as you land. It’s really uncommon for an accident or crash to occur while you’re soaring along high in the skies.
What’s the safest part of the plane to sit in?
There’s an urban myth that it’s safer to sit in the back of the plane (after all, the plane’s nose will strike the ground first, right?) However, that’s incorrect and dates back to a 2007 Popular Mechanics article that relied on flawed data and methodology. New research proves that there is no one area of the plane that is more or less safe, as crashes happen in a variety of ways, circumstances, etc., so there is no evidence that the back of the plane is safer.
But what about the size of the airplane?
Studies do show that bigger planes are safer in the event of a crash (and probably crash less, too). The reason is that larger aircraft have better “crushability,” a term used to describe their energy absorption rate, which helps protect passengers marginally in the event of a crash.
But I can share the ONE factor that is proven to help you survive in the event of a plane crash. Tune in to our next AllWorld air safety review to find out what it is!
About Norm Schriever
Norm Schriever is a blogger, Amazon best-sellling author, cultural mad scientist, and enemy of the comfort zone. His work appears in the Huffington Post, Business.com, Good Morning America, The Anderson Cooper Show on CNN, NBC, MSN, Yahoo, Hotels.com, and media all around the world.
Norm grew up in Connecticut and graduated from the University of Connecticut, where he was never accused of overstudying. After expatriating to Costa Rica in 2011, he started traveling the world and documenting what he saw. He now lives in Southeast Asia, writing his heart out and working with local charities.
