U.S. Airline Deaths Stay Low
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:11 pm
U.S. Airline Deaths Stay Low
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
WASHINGTON — Only 34 people have died in U.S. commercial airline crashes in the past three years, making it one of the safest periods in aviation history even as more Americans than ever travel by air.
On Oct. 20, a Corporate Airlines (search) twin-engine turboprop crashed into the woods on approach to the Kirksville Regional Airport in Missouri, killing 13 people. Those were the only fatalities aboard U.S. scheduled airlines for the year.
National Transportation Safety Board (search) chairman Ellen Engleman Conners, noting that some 42,000 people die every year on the roads, said, "I hope all modes of transportation could replicate aviation's safety record."
The last U.S. crash of a jumbo jet was Nov. 12, 2001, when American Airlines (search) Flight 587 lost part of its tail and plummeted into a New York City neighborhood, killing 265 people. Safety investigators concluded that the crash was caused by the pilot moving the rudder back and forth too aggressively, which put more pressure on the tail than it could bear.
Last year, the number of fatal accidents per 100,000 departures was .015. Air travelers are estimated to have boarded planes 685 million times in 2004, a 3 percent increase over 2000, the previous busiest year, according to the Air Transport Association (search).
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
WASHINGTON — Only 34 people have died in U.S. commercial airline crashes in the past three years, making it one of the safest periods in aviation history even as more Americans than ever travel by air.
On Oct. 20, a Corporate Airlines (search) twin-engine turboprop crashed into the woods on approach to the Kirksville Regional Airport in Missouri, killing 13 people. Those were the only fatalities aboard U.S. scheduled airlines for the year.
National Transportation Safety Board (search) chairman Ellen Engleman Conners, noting that some 42,000 people die every year on the roads, said, "I hope all modes of transportation could replicate aviation's safety record."
The last U.S. crash of a jumbo jet was Nov. 12, 2001, when American Airlines (search) Flight 587 lost part of its tail and plummeted into a New York City neighborhood, killing 265 people. Safety investigators concluded that the crash was caused by the pilot moving the rudder back and forth too aggressively, which put more pressure on the tail than it could bear.
Last year, the number of fatal accidents per 100,000 departures was .015. Air travelers are estimated to have boarded planes 685 million times in 2004, a 3 percent increase over 2000, the previous busiest year, according to the Air Transport Association (search).
Some freaking people don't deserve to have a drivers license.