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How the airline industry got wise to seat belts

airspacemag.com

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Re: How the airline industry got wise to seat belts

#11

Post by runako »

slownews45 wrote: post #4
sklargh wrote: post #2

Recent failures by Boeing aside, the amount of thought that goes into the holistic safety of commercial aircraft is astounding. It kind of blows my mind how hardened a typical passenger cabin is to fire, not to mention other hazards.

And despite the complaints, US pax travel (scheduled) is INSANELY safe relative to most other forms of transport. They fly us around in tin cans at 30,000 feet without killing that many folks per year. I'd love to get status of fatalities per motorcycle mile vs airline mile. Got to be remarkably different.

Data for transport modes excluding motorcycles: https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics...

(airplanes are zero most years)

Data for motorcycles:

https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-motorcyc...

Eyeballing, it looks like motorcycles have roughly ~50x as many fatalities per mile as passenger autos.

Re: How the airline industry got wise to seat belts

#12

Post by worker767424 »

tannedNerd wrote: post #9
Teever wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> confiscate shoes ???

It’s for the slides, don’t want someone breaking an ankle and popping the slide in a high heel.

I thought it was that they don't one a high heel puncturing the slide

Re: How the airline industry got wise to seat belts

#13

Post by ceejayoz »

mpalczewski wrote: post #8
ceejayoz wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. The "fatalities per mile" chart is pretty astounding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_safety#/media/File:Fa...

Hmm, after looking at that, and always being told that airlines are the safest. I was surprised they are only safest by that one metric (fatalities / distance) and not fatalities per trip or fatalities per hour.

Those seem like odd metrics to go by.

Re: How the airline industry got wise to seat belts

#14

Post by worker767424 »

mpalczewski wrote: post #8
ceejayoz wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. The "fatalities per mile" chart is pretty astounding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_safety#/media/File:Fa...

Hmm, after looking at that, and always being told that airlines are the safest. I was surprised they are only safest by that one metric (fatalities / distance) and not fatalities per trip or fatalities per hour.

Remember that takeoffs and landings are the most dangerous part of the trip.

Re: How the airline industry got wise to seat belts

#15

Post by diebeforei485 »

Teever wrote: post #7
gumby wrote: post #5

Having been once in a aircraft-damaging emergency landing* decades ago I am surprised lap only belts are still the norm. There's a reason the crew has four point restraints, and I'd like to have it too. * I won't call it a crash since the aircraft made it to an airport and to a runway. We had equipment failure in flight so there was plenty of time for the flight attendants to review our crash positions, confiscate sh…

> confiscate shoes ???

Some shoes (eg. soccer cleats, heels) can puncture the inflatable emergency slides.

Re: How the airline industry got wise to seat belts

#16

Post by zipiridu »

ceejayoz wrote: post #3
sklargh wrote: post #2

Recent failures by Boeing aside, the amount of thought that goes into the holistic safety of commercial aircraft is astounding. It kind of blows my mind how hardened a typical passenger cabin is to fire, not to mention other hazards.

Yup. The "fatalities per mile" chart is pretty astounding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_safety#/media/File:Fa...

IIRC takeoff and landing are the most dangerous parts, so I'd be more interested fatalities per trip. An intercontinental plane ride would cover more miles than I drive in a year which makes the per mile stat meaningless to me. I think it would still be in the plane's favor but probably not as significantly. And in that case if you're a safe driver (healthy adult, doesn't drink or do drugs, doesn't speed, etc) it might skew in favor of driving since I'm sure some groups are much higher risk.

Re: How the airline industry got wise to seat belts

#17

Post by trangus_1985 »

runako wrote: post #11
slownews45 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And despite the complaints, US pax travel (scheduled) is INSANELY safe relative to most other forms of transport. They fly us around in tin cans at 30,000 feet without killing that many folks per year. I'd love to get status of fatalities per motorcycle mile vs airline mile. Got to be remarkably different.

Data for transport modes excluding motorcycles: https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics... (airplanes are zero most years) Data for motorcycles: https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-motorcyc... Eyeballing, it looks like motorcycles have roughly ~50x as many fatalities per mile as passenger autos.

I've been riding for a long time. I definitely spent effort understanding risks and safety.

Motorcycle fatalities are mostly similar to factors that cause car fatalities, but extremely exacerbated.

For example, about 40% of motorcycle fatalities involve alcohol. One drink before riding a motorcycle is about equivalent to 4 before you drive.

Riding at night accounts for a significant amount of fatalities, as does unprotected left turns. Oversteering is another major factor, usually because you went too fast through a turn.

Also, motorcycle fatalities are currently rising. This is largely due to older people who have wanted to ride but couldn't or were afraid to. A 65 year old man on a 800lb 1.5L engine bike who's a new rider is going to take a bad situation a lot harder than a younger person on a smaller bike.

Motorcycles are more dangerous than cars, but if you understand the risks and employ constant self-improvement in your skills, you really begin to reduce your exposure to risk. Unfortunately, it does somewhat select for a group that likes to take risks.

Re: How the airline industry got wise to seat belts

#18

Post by namdnay »

ceejayoz wrote: post #13
mpalczewski wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, after looking at that, and always being told that airlines are the safest. I was surprised they are only safest by that one metric (fatalities / distance) and not fatalities per trip or fatalities per hour.

Those seem like odd metrics to go by.

Fatalities per hour seems like a reasonable statistic if you want to talk about fear - how likely am I to die in the next 5mn?

Re: How the airline industry got wise to seat belts

#19

Post by hansthehorse »

worker767424 wrote: post #14
mpalczewski wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, after looking at that, and always being told that airlines are the safest. I was surprised they are only safest by that one metric (fatalities / distance) and not fatalities per trip or fatalities per hour.

Remember that takeoffs and landings are the most dangerous part of the trip.

I usually hear it stated that it's the first two and last 8 minutes of any flight.

Re: How the airline industry got wise to seat belts

#20

Post by opwieurposiu »

runako wrote: post #11
slownews45 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And despite the complaints, US pax travel (scheduled) is INSANELY safe relative to most other forms of transport. They fly us around in tin cans at 30,000 feet without killing that many folks per year. I'd love to get status of fatalities per motorcycle mile vs airline mile. Got to be remarkably different.

Data for transport modes excluding motorcycles: https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics... (airplanes are zero most years) Data for motorcycles: https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-motorcyc... Eyeballing, it looks like motorcycles have roughly ~50x as many fatalities per mile as passenger autos.

Commercial aircraft are very safe, GA aircraft (your uncle with a cessna), are about as safe as motorcycles.

https://inspire.eaa.org/2017/05/11/how-safe-is-it/

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