There are a few fears in life that defy logic. Fear of spiders
may be one, fear of lifts is another, and perhaps a fear of
flying is another. Everyday, thousands of planes take off around
the world, carrying millions of passengers safely to their
destination. Flying is one of the safest, if not the safest,
form of travel available. It is far safer than getting in the
car, yet over one third of the population still report a fear of
flying.
People cite many concerns when they talk of their fear of
flying. Many report a lack of confidence in the air traffic
control system and fear that a simple mistake on the ground can
lead to disaster in the air. Then there are fears of faults with
the plane itself. Most people saw the pictures of the concord
crash a few years ago and when you’re sitting on an airplane, a
few feet from the massive jet engines humming steadily, it seems
very hard to believe that nothing could go wrong with such a
machine. In fact the very shape and appearance of airplanes does
little to inspire confidence in passengers who already are
having doubts about the airworthiness of the plane.
Then there are the reports and press attention of the
troubles of deep vein thrombosis.
The fact of the matter however, is that flying is extremely
safe. It is one of the wonders of technology that air travel,
with all the multitude of potential failures, keep delivering
flight after flight, on time and without a hitch. In fact, in
contrast to almost all other forms of travel, air travel is
becoming safer and safer every year.
The statistics speak for themselves. Do you know what the
chances are of having a single fatality on a flight? Well
according to the BBC, it is 1 in 16 million. And in the vast
majority of accidents where there are fatalities, more than half
of the other passengers survive. What this means is that even if
you defy all the odds and are on one of the few unlucky flights
that does crash, you are still more likely to survive than die
in the accident.
However, there is one issue with air travel that the
statistics don’t commend so highly. Delays, lost luggage and
missing flights are still frequent issues that plague
passengers. Luckily, all of these can be covered for with some
good, comprehensive travel insurance.
About the Author:
Joseph Kenny is the webmaster of the insurance site
http://www.insure121.com/
where you will find information, news and links to the
leading providers of insurance in the UK. If you found this
article interesting you may find more articles of the same
nature in the
insurance guide located on
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