How do you feel after a rash of accidents?
Experts Assure Air Travel Is Safe
With recent airplane accidents, some people are questioning the safety of air travel.
USA Today spoke with several experts who reassured travelers that flying is a very safe form of transportation.
Kristy Kiernan, Associate Director at the Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety, said, “Fortunately, accidents, especially in the past 25 years, have been very rare events in the U.S. air carriers. I spent 12 years flying in the Coast Guard, we would go a year without anything happening at all, and the next year, if we had one, it would be an infinite increase.”
The National Transportation Safety Board has listed six air carrier accidents this year, none of which involved small planes. The NTSB already shows 67 fatalities from airline accidents this year.
Robert W. Mann Jr., an independent airline consultant, said, “These are understandably headline issues. Given the number of people who fly and given the exposure that these incidents get, it’s not surprising that there would be some concern if not alarm about them.”
The tragic midair collision over the Potomac River in January was the first fatal plane crash for a U.S. airliner since 2009.