There are a few fears in life that defy logic.
Fear of spiders may be one, fear of lifts is another, and perhaps a fear of
flying is another. Everyday, thousands of planes take off around the world,
carrying millions of passengers safely to their destination. Flying is one of
the safest, if not the safest, form of travel available. It is far safer than
getting in the car, yet over one third of the population still report a fear of
flying.
People cite many concerns when they talk of
their fear of flying. Many report a lack of confidence in the air traffic
control system and fear that a simple mistake on the ground can lead to disaster
in the air. Then there are fears of faults with the plane itself. Most people
saw the pictures of the concord crash a few years ago and when you’re sitting on
an airplane, a few feet from the massive jet engines humming steadily, it seems
very hard to believe that nothing could go wrong with such a machine. In fact
the very shape and appearance of airplanes does little to inspire confidence in
passengers who already are having doubts about the airworthiness of the plane.
Then there are the reports and press attention
of the troubles of deep vein thrombosis.
The fact of the matter however, is that flying
is extremely safe. It is one of the wonders of technology that air travel, with
all the multitude of potential failures, keep delivering flight after flight, on
time and without a hitch. In fact, in contrast to almost all other forms of
travel, air travel is becoming safer and safer every year.
The statistics speak for themselves. Do you
know what the chances are of having a single fatality on a flight? Well
according to the BBC, it is 1 in 16 million. And in the vast majority of
accidents where there are fatalities, more than half of the other passengers
survive. What this means is that even if you defy all the odds and are on one of
the few unlucky flights that does crash, you are still more likely to survive
than die in the accident.
However, there is one issue with air travel
that the statistics don’t commend so highly. Delays, lost luggage and missing
flights are still frequent issues that plague passengers. Luckily, all of these
can be covered for with some good, comprehensive travel insurance.