The future of flying

Great. I'm going to be immolated in a cabin fire because this chick stopped to pick up her neck pillow, comfy blanket, purse, and backpack:

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If the emergency is known ahead of time (and flight attendants are preparing for it) and you are a fit male, (firefighter, emt, cop, is helpful too) volunteer to be an ABP (able bodied passenger). You will be moved to an exit row (they will remove whoever is sitting there), and likely be instructed to be the first person out, to assist people off the slides (or climb down the slide like a rope and hold it to catch people if it does not deploy properly.)
 
If the emergency is known ahead of time (and flight attendants are preparing for it) and you are a fit male, (firefighter, emt, cop, is helpful too) volunteer to be an ABP (able bodied passenger). You will be moved to an exit row (they will remove whoever is sitting there), and likely be instructed to be the first person out, to assist people off the slides (or climb down the slide like a rope and hold it to catch people if it does not deploy properly.)

Why is it that I still don't trust taking my whole family on a plane regardless of that?

I mean why are there all these Youtubers making money out of anylizing plane crashes? It's not like it's not happening anymore... the safety of flying has seriously taken a dent this year or so won't you agree (not just perception)?
 
Why is it that I still don't trust taking my whole family on a plane regardless of that?

I mean why are there all these Youtubers making money out of anylizing plane crashes? It's not like it's not happening anymore... the safety of flying has seriously taken a dent this year or so won't you agree (not just perception)?
Same number of crashes, more attention. Fatal accidents are exceedingly rare in the US, more common abroad. On a per flight hour basis, it’s as safe or safer than ever. I think near misses as far as mid-air’s and minor incidents are getting more attention as well, but in my experience the frequency is the same. Much more attention is being given to near-misses now in particular after the Potomac mid-air…but trust me, those happen on a regular (if infrequent) basis and the only people who ever know are the pilots, company, and FAA.

I have noticed a decline in experience level, but not in quality (yet.) Where I work, performance and judgement at a certain level is required or you don’t fly, and that is tested every 9 months. Other airlines and especially other countries are different of course. The Middle East carriers probably spend double the money and time than what we do, on training and proficiency, but their pilots are generally less experienced and have a narrower background. Africa, South America or SE Asia? I probably wouldn’t take my family on.
 
Same number of crashes, more attention. Fatal accidents are exceedingly rare in the US, more common abroad. On a per flight hour basis, it’s as safe or safer than ever. I think near misses as far as mid-air’s and minor incidents are getting more attention as well, but in my experience the frequency is the same. Much more attention is being given to near-misses now in particular after the Potomac mid-air…but trust me, those happen on a regular (if infrequent) basis and the only people who ever know are the pilots, company, and FAA.

I have noticed a decline in experience level, but not in quality (yet.) Where I work, performance and judgement at a certain level is required or you don’t fly, and that is tested every 9 months. Other airlines and especially other countries are different of course. The Middle East carriers probably spend double the money and time than what we do, on training and proficiency, but their pilots are generally less experienced and have a narrower background. Africa, South America or SE Asia? I probably wouldn’t take my family on.
I believe the number of big crashes and smaller mishaps is higher now than it was, due to DEI and reduced focus on quality. However, I still think the odds of an individual being hurt or killed in a plane accident are far lower than the odds of being hurt or killed in a car accident, by 100 to 1000 times less.
 
I believe the number of big crashes and smaller mishaps is higher now than it was, due to DEI and reduced focus on quality. However, I still think the odds of an individual being hurt or killed in a plane accident are far lower than the odds of being hurt or killed in a car accident, by 100 to 1000 times less.
DEI is definitely a player in aviation, and lower quality, experience level and sometimes skill do play a role (possibly in the Toronto crash.). Maybe it will become a bigger factor than it is now at some point, but it is much more difficult to hide sub-par performance than in other fields, not only “soft” ones like academia, but even ones like medicine. Yes the cockpit (in the airlines) is a team, but individual performance or lack there of is immediately obvious and evaluated.
 
Why is it that I still don't trust taking my whole family on a plane regardless of that?

I mean why are there all these Youtubers making money out of anylizing plane crashes? It's not like it's not happening anymore... the safety of flying has seriously taken a dent this year or so won't you agree (not just perception)?


Statistically you’re far more likely to die in a car wreck than a plane wreck and it’s not even close.

Deaths per year for autos in the USA is between 40000-45000 per year.

Plane deaths per year in the USA is a few hundred
 
Statistically you’re far more likely to die in a car wreck than a plane wreck and it’s not even close.

Deaths per year for autos in the USA is between 40000-45000 per year.

Plane deaths per year in the USA is a few hundred

I know it's the 'I like to be in control' thing with me having all these kids now but I also know you're right but I know I'm the best driver forgetting about all the shitty ones around me.

And then I see the female only apply hiring for pilots ads...
 
I know it's the 'I like to be in control' thing with me having all these kids now but I also know you're right but I know I'm the best driver forgetting about all the shitty ones around me.

And then I see the female only apply hiring for pilots ads...

You think there aren’t any women behind the wheel of a car? I’m just saying, riding in a car is good and riding in a plane is bad?
 

My dad was on this flight and mentioned this to me on Friday evening. He is a [former] pilot and also flies often, didn’t make a huge issue of it but I had a ton of questions (because I hate flying now that I am older). He thought it was a bird strike that likely occurred on ascent and that the crack either didn’t manifest until higher altitude or that the pilots didn’t want to frighten the passengers until they had a diversion plan in place. He said the announcement came at 29,000 feet and didn’t believe there would have been any major issues with potential cabin decompression based on what the pilots had announced. Looking at this article it was worse than he thought.

I have a lot of respect for how calm and professional pilots are under pressure in extremely tense situations. Keeping the passengers as calm as possible is wise and essential, regardless of the situation.
 
My dad was on this flight and mentioned this to me on Friday evening. He is a [former] pilot and also flies often, didn’t make a huge issue of it but I had a ton of questions (because I hate flying now that I am older). He thought it was a bird strike that likely occurred on ascent and that the crack either didn’t manifest until higher altitude or that the pilots didn’t want to frighten the passengers until they had a diversion plan in place. He said the announcement came at 29,000 feet and didn’t believe there would have been any major issues with potential cabin decompression based on what the pilots had announced. Looking at this article it was worse than he thought.

I have a lot of respect for how calm and professional pilots are under pressure in extremely tense situations. Keeping the passengers as calm as possible is wise and essential, regardless of the situation.
This doesn't look like a bird strike to me - birds can do a lot of damage, put holes in the fuselage even, but the windshields are MUCH stronger. They are specifically tested to resist even the largest birds like geese at maximum speed, because a failure like this could bring down the airplane. I think the certification is 8 lb bird at 500 kts. Thats about 90,000 ft/lbs of KE. For comparison, a 9mm +P handgun bullet has about 400 ft/lbs

Shattering both the outer and inner glass took a lot of energy...large hail (baseball) at 300+ kts can crack the outer pane, but to shatter the inner pane like that, I have never seen anything like it. I hope he had sunglasses on.
 
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This doesn't look like a bird strike to me - birds can do a lot of damage, put holes in the fuselage even, but the windshields are MUCH stronger. They are specifically tested to be undamaged from even the largest birds like geese at maximum speed, because a failure like this could bring down the airplane.

Shattering both the outer and inner glass took a lot of energy...large hail (baseball) at 300+ kts can crack the outer pane, but to shatter the inner pane like that, I have never seen anything like it. I hope he had sunglasses on.

Small meteorite perhaps? Anyways kudos to the pilots.
 
This doesn't look like a bird strike to me - birds can do a lot of damage, put holes in the fuselage even, but the windshields are MUCH stronger. They are specifically tested to resist even the largest birds like geese at maximum speed, because a failure like this could bring down the airplane. I think the certification is 8 lb bird at 500 kts. Thats about 90,000 ft/lbs of KE. For comparison, a 9mm +P handgun bullet has about 400 ft/lbs

Shattering both the outer and inner glass took a lot of energy...large hail (baseball) at 300+ kts can crack the outer pane, but to shatter the inner pane like that, I have never seen anything like it. I hope he had sunglasses on.
Yeah he said he just assumed when they announced a cracked windshield. But this thing is shattered. I forwarded that tweet to him so he could see it.
 
Yeah he said he just assumed when they announced a cracked windshield. But this thing is shattered. I forwarded that tweet to him so he could see it.
We used to break the outer panes regularly at cruise altitude on the Bombardier jets when they were new…they finally figured out that the running the high setting on windshield heat was overheating them. It sounded like a shotgun blast when it shattered…people in the back of the plane could hear it.
One windshield was $35k, and that was 20 years ago...probably closer to $100k these days, and thats just for the part...not labor!
 
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