Interesting Flying Facts

Although statistics prove otherwise, flying is still considered by many to be a risky option. But once you delve a little deeper into these interesting flying facts, you might start to believe that it is one of the safer means of transportation in today’s global village.

Statistically, it is far more likely that one might be killed prematurely by a dog bite, a bee sting or a bolt of lightning from above than to die in a fatal plane accident. Commercial aviation is clearly one of the safer options of travel and there are a number of reasons why.

Cost of training pilots equivalent to GP’s

We are all well aware of the depth of knowledge required to be a successful medical practitioner. Generally it takes in the region of 7 years of intensive training and a rather large financial commitment to become a doctor and that is only for general medicine. It is enlightening to know that the leading carriers spend about the same amount of money on their pilots; and it has paid dividends – commercial airlines exhibit one of the lowest accident rates worldwide.

The other leading members of the flight cast are the air traffic controllers. These men and women are effectively responsible for all our lives once in the air. You will be pleased to know that they are expected to commit to between 3 - 4 years of training. They are also managed very carefully and spend about 5 hours of an eight hour shift actually controlling the traffic.

Sufficient systems back-up

It is worth bearing in mind that virtually every system on a commercial aircraft has a back-up that can and will take over all tasks should the original system fail. There are also two pilots, at least two engines, two to three autopilots and about three separate computers that are capable of handling the craft in the event of a systems failure. On a 747 where safety is paramount, there are no fewer than 18 tyres!

The mechanisms of flight, be it commercial, private or simply a helicopter tour is strictly scrutinised and, apart from the intensive training of both pilot and controller, it is worth remembering that with every 1 hour in the air, there are on average 12 hours of maintenance on the ground.

Each plane or helicopter has to lodge a flight plan with the relevant authorities and a very interesting byte of information is that every single aircraft has its own dedicated highway, over 16 kilometres wide, that no other aircraft is allowed into.

Odds of premature death

These odds of death from various causes will prove how little we need fear flying, whether in a large commercial carrier, a streamlined private jet or a helicopter.

• Commercial airline: 1 in 7 million




• Bee sting: 1 in 5.5 million




• Lightning: 1 in 1.9 million




• Smoking (age 30+): 1 in 600




• Heart disease: 1 in 2