I love telling uninformed people that 99% of accidents are caused by pilot error. This serves two purposes. The first, is that airplanes are not usually the cause of crashes. The second, is that flying is as safe as you choose to make it. If you're a careful and safety-oriented pilot, you won't crash. If you must, for some unforeseen problem, then a clear mind, good training and a bit of smarts will result in a good outcome for all.
I really get cynical when hearing about most recent air disasters. I usually jump to the conclusion that it was the pilot's mistake. I am usually right. I then can go about my daily routine not worrying about my next flight. I have chosen to be careful and think things through when I fly. Some people don't. And, unfortunately, for all of you who are not pilots, and put your trust in the people up front, you can't tell what's going on up there.
When I am a passenger, I do put my faith and trust with the pilots. Most pilots are happy people with no reason to not want to go home at the end of the shift. Most pilots love to fly and crave it the next day. Some are even anxious to go home and fire up their flight simulators! I know, I am one of them.
The TWA 800 disaster, the EgyptAir 767 and the Alaskan Air MD-80 accidents are frightening to most pilots. See, there is no explanation in those cases. Crashes without a cause or explanation that can be traced to the pilots makes me nervous. There are the cases when airplanes have fallen from the sky. That's the one time the news is correct in their description of falling. The pilots were not to blame. At least in the beginning of the EgyptAir investigation it was not known. every time something like this happens, and pilots can't easily explain it off, it really makes aviation look bad. So, you've got the 1% of accidents that occur with no explaination, and the 99% that were preventable, all rolled into one bad set of statistics. To the public, flying is a bad thing. Unsafe and foolhardy.
I really hate it when I hear the public talking about flying in the store, on the radio or wherever the topic comes up. You never hear anyone talking about the excitement, beauty, tranquility and safety of flight. Never. All you hear are the worries, complaints, gripes and statistics. The stats are that flying is safer than driving. While certainly true, I get an earful of "well, in the air you just can't pull over to get help, you're going down - at least in my car I can pull over and get help". Please! No more! I have about 5 good near-misses in my car each week. Enough to make me grab the controls, honk and maneuver clear. Now, when is the last time I've done that in 2500+ hours of piloting? Maybe three times. And, at distances of perhaps 200 feet or more. Maybe 20 feet for a birdy. I only wish I could keep all those stupid, foolhardy, eighteen-wheeler trucks at least 200 feet away from me.
When at the air charter terminal that I occasionally fly from, I'll hear people walking in off the street, on a rainy day, looking at the airplanes parked outside. "No flying today eh?" I really want to say "WHY NOT you fool?" Just because it's raining!? Just because on the news, it's not safe to fly in the rain, up in those dark, dark clouds?!?!
I love promoting aviation. I'm not this bitter in person. But after a while, you want to really throttle all those nervous, misinformed, white-nuckled, TV-watching, news-addicted ninnies. Especially those on TV that keep trying to get airports closed, or commercial traffic stifled. Where I am at KBED, there is a very successful Shuttle America regional airline. They run brand new, big, Dash turboprops that hold about 70 people. They are the quietest most un-noticable aircraft at our airport, where corporate jets takeoff and land at least 50 times day! On top of that we've got big military transports (Globemasters, C-5s and C-141s), and airline charters (727s). Yet, the complaints are aimed at only one operation, the super-quiet Shuttle America aircraft! They are afraid that if they are allowed to operate, then the big airlines will bring loud jets into Hanscom. Silly fools. Last time I listened, a Lear 25 is a lot louder than a new 737! Or an F-18. I don't know if it's the noise or the "airplanes falling from the sky" factor that is the main threat. All the people that built their new million dollar homes near the airport, can afford to move away or get pair of ear muffs.
None of this will really have any effect on the folks we have here at FlightSim.Com. If this was Time Magazine or something, I'd be ruffling many feathers. I know you already love flying and have little fear of the most fantastic transportation method on earth. All I can ask from you all is that you attempt to educate the masses out there, each and every time you come in contact with a "regular" person.
