ANOTHER plane down, amsterdam this time.

What the heck is going on? It seems like every week now there is a plane crash happening. Is it just that they have always been happening, but now just being reported more?

 

Last year they had more accidents but with less fatalities.

But in the last 2 months we have had 4 majors

Continental 737 off runway in Denver 0 fatalities
US Airways A320 Ditched in NYC 0 fatalities
Colgan Dash-8 Stall/Spin in Buffalo 50 fatalities
Turkish 737 short of runway in Amsterdam 9 fatalities(So Far)

With the large load factors on all of these flights we have been fortunate that there have not been more deaths.

Here is a photo of the crash scene http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6493994

 

It just all depends on how you jigger the stats, and what areas you look at. The recently reported "no deaths in a major carrier for X years in the US" purposely did not include certain feeder lines and aircraft type to make that point. Jets crash ALL the time in other parts of the world; Africa and the former soviet sections are the worst due to maintenance, budget, training and the age of their fleet.

In general, in the developed world, air travel is safe.

 

Possibly with fuel costs cheaper now the planes are being used a lot more increasing the possibility of mechanical glitches etc and the odds of a crash. You'd also think that with hard times there might be some skimping going on.

 

For a lot of airlines fuel cost are still through the roof as they went and hedged on fuel contracts and the sudden drop has bit them in the butt currently. Even southwest Airlines has posted a quarterly loss due to poor fuel Hedges.

 

It seems reasonable.

 

Just watch.....The Southwest flight I would have been on today to LAX will crash...........Glad I'm driving!

 

You're much more likely to die in a car collision and you might have a plane fall on you. 2x worse!

 

That would be MY luck! Made it without any wrecks and there has not been a plane down this evening!