Is Flying Safe? A Look Into Safety and the Recent Plane Crashes

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Is Flying Safe? A Look Into Safety and the Recent Plane Crashes

Recently there has been a lot of aircraft accidents which can make  you second-guess planning a trip. Flying has always been a huge fear of mine and despite it, I still became a travel blogger. For me, I’m not necessary scared that the plane will crash, although now I’m starting to have that fear, but more so I just do not enjoy the way flying feels. With all the news and recent crashes I wanted to look in to aircraft safety to decide, is flying really dangerous?

Although Malaysian Airlines has had two incidents involving commercial airliners and the two recent crashes in the past few days, this year there have been fewer aviation accidents than the past few years.  The cases this year are not typical and all the plane crashes this year have all been caused by something different so there is no underlying reason causing us to reconsider air safety.

36.4 billion people flew safely last year on flights all over the world and there are about 93,000 flights a day. Even if one plane went down each day, flying would still be safer than driving.

“Accidents occur at a rate of one per 1.2 million flights, and the odds of dying in a plane crash are 1 in 11 million. The odds of dying in a car accident are around 1 in 5,000, so you’re much more likely to die getting to the airport than you are flying in the plane. [source: Ropeik]”

Many people ask Jeff and I if we are ever scared of flying with all the recent tragedies and to be honest it really hasn’t affected any of our travel plans. I am a nervous flyer and it can be hard for me to fly sometimes, but I never let it interfere with my travel. There are too many beautiful places and people to see! I love traveling, and although it can be scary when there is bad weather, news of a recent crash, or just anxiety that seems to come out of thin air, I strongly feel like seeing the world is worth the risk.

I don’t feel like we are being unsafe when we book a flight, even if it is in a remote place in the world. Traveling is a gift and we are fortunate to be able to travel as much as we do. If we were to let fear take hold of us we would never leave the house. There is so much uncertainty in the world and so much to be fearful of, but at the end of the day, taking those risks are what make us who we are. Each day I strive to take just one more step outside of my comfort zone and for me flying was a big one. Each time I step on a plane, I am full of anxiety and what ifs.

My heart goes out to everyone who has lost their life or a loved one in a plane crash and it is sad that these things happen all the time, but at the end of the day planes crash, cars crash and bad things just happen. Every thing we do can be seen as a risk and I for one wont hide in fear.

Marina Dominguez is the co-founder of Latitude 34 Travel Blog as well as a photographer and documentary film maker.

As a maturing women, Marina has dedicated her life to travel and new experiences. After working a 9-5 cubical lifestyle, Marina sold everything she owned, left her job and begun a new life with her boyfriend and travel companion, Jeff Johns. Together they relocated to Phuket, Thailand and founded Latitude 34 in which they seek to share their alternative lifestyle with the world. 

Marina is a Visual Journalism graduate of Brooks Institute of Photography where she studied photography, videography and ultimately caught the travel bug. Through creating several international documentaries, Marina realized there was more to the world than work and wanted something more.