SIDELINES //

Five Things You Should Know About Plane Crashes

by Mike Richard

… and these come from my “Survival Tip-A-Day” Calendar so they must be true.

Some food for travel thought:

The majority of plane crashes occur during takeoff and landing
Pilot error is the number one cause of plane crashes
Statistically, the majority of crash survivors were seated in the rear half of the plane
Auto accidents kill more people every year than the total number of people killed in air disasters since the dawn of aviation
Larger aircrafts (more than 30 seats) tend to be safer than smaller planes.

1, 2, and 5 seem pretty reasonable to me. #3 seems obvious when you think about it and it makes me wonder if I should reconsider where I actually sit on a plane.

#4 really struck me. It’s not entirely surprising, yet somehow it’s a remarkable stat when you think about it: “… since the dawn of aviation”. Wow.

If you liked this post, subscribe to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by email and have new posts delivered directly to your inbox daily.

About the Author

Vagabondish editor, Mike Richard, lives in Rhode Island - a spit of land in the northeastern U.S. He is a professional web designer and travel junkie with an unhealthy addiction to backpacking, camping, hiking and seeing the world. He enjoys knit hats, small, declarative sentences and speaking in the third person.

Eric
July 31st, 2007

Makes me wonder which section of the plane is the safest. I’m guessing the cockpit might actually be one of the safer areas.

Chris
August 1st, 2007

That might be true. So let’s come up with a plan on how to get all those useless people out of there! Where can I make a reservation for that real row 1 number 1 seat?