The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Now I know what we all do when the winter WX is so nasty outside! We use our new computers and cable internet connections while sipping a nice hot cup of......coffee? HA, I prefer to narrow the argument down to my own personal situation on any given day. Am I safer in my automobile driving among people who do not have to demonstrate any real skill...or be able to read the english language in order to get their operators license than I am in my well maintained aircraft flying among well-trained pilots? How about grandpa who got his license last century, but is not required to retest for his driver's license each year? Has a medical test been done in the last few years? Can he even see the dashboard? Then the pure physical side of the problem...that of two vehicles passing within inches of each other at closure rates of up to 140 MPH or more, controlled by people with unknown skills quite possibly engaged in distracting activities such as putting on makeup, reading the paper, eating, or chatting on the cell phone. If I don't even consider the numbers game at all, I have just satisfied myself that my plane is a far safer place to be....looking down at all the grinding metal on the roadways.

For studies, how about a different twist? Are we all burned out on studies yet? Most of us do indeed drive many more miles than we fly. Not true for airline pilots such as myself. I fly many tens of thousands more miles than I will ever hope or wish to drive. Do we lose more aircrew members to auto crashes or air crashes? I think my chances of going up for the "final check ride" are much higher on I-66 going to Dulles airport....and seeing all the little memorial crosses with flowers and pictures of families along the median and shoulder seem to confirm my line of thinking.

As for all the studies...my wife has a good rule of thumb for them. Look to see who sponsored the study. Numbers are like silly putty. They can be manipulated, and represented in any number of ways. Purely a smoke and mirrors game....that is why every time some study about something comes out....another follows after a period of time that contradicts the earlier study. You know...are eggs GOOD for you or BAD for you? What is good for you today is found to be bad for you tommorrow! Oh boy, what fun we are having!

John - You certainly fly more miles than you drive, but how about hours? Since you are lucky enough to have the job you do, you likely don't drive like I do. But I still bet that you drive more hours than you think, plus you are in cars, driving or as pax, virtually all of your life. Not so with flying, even for a professional pilot. How many years out of a lifetime do you fly professionally? 40 or so max out of, hopefully, more than twice that many driving.
I truly think that the best way to examine any risk is by looking at the time that you're exposed to it. Therefore, most of us are exposed to the risks of driving for tens of thousands of hours in a lifetime, and don't get hurt or killed in cars. Now, to knock on wood on the way home tonite.
Jerry

Well I am not sure which is safer, but I sure know which is more FUN!!!

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eichenberger wrote:John - You certainly fly more miles than you drive, but how about hours? Since you are lucky enough to have the job you do, you likely don't drive like I do. But I still bet that you drive more hours than you think, plus you are in cars, driving or as pax, virtually all of your life. Not so with flying, even for a professional pilot. How many years out of a lifetime do you fly professionally? 40 or so max out of, hopefully, more than twice that many driving.
I truly think that the best way to examine any risk is by looking at the time that you're exposed to it. Therefore, most of us are exposed to the risks of driving for tens of thousands of hours in a lifetime, and don't get hurt or killed in cars. Now, to knock on wood on the way home tonite.
Jerry

I guess that's why most people die in bed then. Maybe we should all be sleeping on park benches with the homeless.

I gave it some thought, and right now at least, I am spending more time in the cockpit than I do in a car. When I am home, I have so much to do that I just don't drive unless absolutely necessary. That may change in the spring when mod work on my MGB is finished! Got me thinking though about road safety. When driving in my own autos, or riding in a private car...I always belt myself in. When we go to the hotel as an aircrew in the hotel van...NOBODY ever wears a seat belt. I've wondered sometimes what would happen in one of the hotel vans in a rollover with all those people and heavy crew bags flying everywhere! I suppose sheduling would let me out of the trip Next trip, I think I'll try to find the seatbelts!

Well guys I hate to jump into an argument that I do not have the total facts to back me up but in my 40+ years of flying (both airline and general aviation) I have done a lot of reading on the subject and I believe that George's figures are correct. As far as how many people any of us has known that have died, either from flying or driving, doesn't seem like a very good measurement of the overall subject. I have personally known quite a few more people that have died in airplanes than in cars but then since I was a teenager most of my friends have been pilots. Most of the ones I have known that died were doing aerobatics or low level flying. During this type of flying the chances of accidents goes WAY up. Other than knowing a few airline pilots that were in the VERY few airline accidents over all these years I have never known a person that died while doing normal flying that they were qualified to do. For those that believe that driving is safer maybe you should consider a little more training in your airplane.
Ken Nesbitt