Air travel is statistically fairly safe. But if something does go wrong, what is likely to be?
Apr 10
What is the most likely to cause injury or death in air travel? Take off, landing, mechanical failure, pilot error, terrorist action or something else?
Take off and landing are the most risky aspects of flying
Taking off and landing in bad weather are probably the most dangerous parts of a flight.
I personally never touch the sarnies on Easyjet.
going down a lot quicker than you went up
The biggest cause of air accidents is pilot error (more than half of all incidents), then mechanical failure. The most likely time of an accident is during landing (more than half of all incidents). However the most likely time to be killed in an accident if one happens is during main climb (25% of fatalities)
Causes
– Pilot Error 33%
– Pilot Error (weather related) 16%
– Pilot Error (mechanical related) 4%
Total Pilot Error 53%
Other Human Error 7%
Weather 11%
Mechanical Failure 21%
Sabotage 7%
Other Cause 1%
Timing of accidents
Parked & taxiing 5%
Take-off & initial climb 17%
Climb, cruise, descent and initial approach 24%
Final approach & landing 51%
Timing of fatalities
Parked & taxiing 0%
Take-off & initial climb 22%
Climb (25%), cruise (8%), descent (12%) and initial approach (13%) 58%
Final approach & landing 18%