As travelers continue to pursue the Holy Grail of cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages, some pause to consider how safe it is to fly these days. 2009 marked the second lowest accident rate for Western built planes in aviation history, slightly higher than 2006.
Flying is the safest form of transportation and it is becoming increasingly unusual that there are any airplane accidents. The global accident rate for Western built jet planes in 09 was one accident for every 1.4 million flights. The odds are that an average passenger could fly every day for 3,859 years before being in an airline accident.
Pilot error was a contributing factor in 30 percent of the airline accidents last year. Improved training is believed to be the best way to reduce such accidents.
Runway excursions when jets overrun runways were responsible for 26 percent of air accidents in 09.
Accidents while on the ground accounted for 10 percent of last years airline accidents. Airport ground trucks have been known to run into parked planes resulting in damage and flights being cancelled.
Eastern and Chinese built airplanes experienced a significantly higher accident rate in 09, but planes from those countries were responsible for only approximately 2% of all flights across the world.