POLL: Are you afraid of flying?

[Slickone]

Originally posted by: Random Variable

Originally posted by: ManSnake

Originally posted by: CptObvious

Originally posted by: ManSnake

Originally posted by: CptObvious
I'm not a fan of flying, but I suppose it beats a long car ride. I'm wary of the smaller commuter jets and I still get earaches from flying on 737s.

Commuter jets are the safest transports in the world but they are not very economical.

According to this site (I can't verify the stats), the odds of dying in a commuter jet flight seem to be significantly higher than an airliner or automobile: Text

The 'communter plane' that site is refering to is a small propeller plane. The commuter jets that are flying today are all jet engined planes. They are either Embraer or Canadair, very safe planes.

I would be slightly apprehensive to fly a Brazilian-made plane. But JetBlue wants to buy a lot of them, so I guess they're safe planes.

They ordered 100 Embraer ERJ 190's and have already received several, flying since November. The 190 is really neat looking, in and out.
Jet Blue is buying planes like crazy. I think getting 3 a month until 2012.
I don't really have much a fear of flying on an Embraer, but obviously would rather see a plane mfg'd in the US.

BTW, the Embraer hasn't been very reliable yet for Jetblue, being the first owners.
Text
"Our on-time performance, defined by the U.S. Department of Transportation as arrivals within 14 minutes of schedule, was 70.6% in the first quarter of 2006 compared to 65.6% for the same period in 2005. Our on-time performance and utilization of the EMBRAER 190 has been lower than we expected, which was not unusual for the launch of an all new aircraft type. The operating performance and reliability of the EMBRAER 190 has improved and is expected to continue to improve as we gain additional experience. Our on-time performance was also affected by our commitment to operate our scheduled flights whenever possible, as reflected by our 99.0% and 98.6% completion factors in the first quarters of 2006 and 2005, respectively."

Text
"JetBlue had the worst on-time arrival rating in December, the latest month for which statistics are available."

Text
"The most recent U.S. Department of Transportation statistics show that in January, JetBlue's flights arrived late 29.4 percent of the time, the third consecutive month that JetBlue finished with the worst on-time arrival rate in the industry."

Text
JetBlue CEO offers more on Embraer 190 ?problems?
JetBlue CEO cites hiccups in Embraer plane debut
JetBlue has worst on-time rating

More

 

[ManSnake]

Originally posted by: Slickone

Originally posted by: ManSnake

Originally posted by: Slickone

Originally posted by: ManSnake
The 'communter plane' that site is refering to is a small propeller plane.

Where does it say those stats are all 'small propeller planes'? The stats say taken 1995-2004. Regional jets were flying even before that. The CRJ was in service in '92 for example.

Originally posted by: ManSnake
The commuter jets that are flying today are all jet engined planes.

Also incorrect. There are still commuter turbo props flying today. Several airlines are still flying ATR's and Dash 8's for example.

Read more carefully. Commuter jets are not propeller planes. Turbo props make up a very small portion of the commuter flights today. In the early 90s, major US airlines replaced those with the new jet powered planes (mainly Canadair and Embraer jets) also called regional jets.

According this site:

Introduced in 1992, there are 1,360 CRJ-series aircraft of various configurations in service around the world. The planes, which each sell for about $25-million, have flown more than 13 million hours with just two other accidents involving death.

Turbo props are not jets!

If you look up the past accidents involving commuter planes, they are mostly propellers, not jets. In fact regional jets have a better safety record than large commercial planes.

Sorry I didn't read that correctly and assumed you said "the commuter planes that are flying today are all jet engined planes". And I think that's what you were *trying* to say. I certainly didn't think you would say the commuter jets flying today are all jet engine planes. That's redundant.
Yes, I agree, the commuter jets flying today are all jet engine planes. The commuter turbo prop planes flying today are all turbo prop powered planes. Etc.

As far as stats, I was just referring to the stats you linked, which didn't say anything, that I saw, about the commuter stats only/mainly being props.

One thing to remember is, compared to prop driven commuters, RJ's are generally newer technology and newer aircraft themselves, with newer, more advanced avionics. Because of the more advanced avionics, they're easier to fly, look out for weather, traffic and terrain better, and monitor the plane's condition itself better (and give better warnings of failures). And more things are automatic now. A prop driven commuter designed today would be no less reliable than a jet. BTW, props/turbo props do better in precip than jets.

Again you should read more carefully next time. If you would have quoted the entire converstaion, you would know why I choose to use the phrase 'commuter jets'.

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Originally posted by: CptObvious

quote:

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Originally posted by: ManSnake

quote:

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Originally posted by: CptObvious
I'm not a fan of flying, but I suppose it beats a long car ride. I'm wary of the smaller commuter jets and I still get earaches from flying on 737s.
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Commuter jets are the safest transports in the world but they are not very economical.
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According to this site (I can't verify the stats), the odds of dying in a commuter jet flight seem to be significantly higher than an airliner or automobile: Text
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The 'communter plane' that site is refering to is a small propeller plane. The commuter jets that are flying today are all jet engined planes. They are either Embraer or Canadair, very safe planes.

 

[vi edit]

Even after 50+ flights I still have a bit of anxiety during really turbulent weather and still get a bit tense during landings when it "feels" like we are coming in really fast.

 

[Mrfrog840]

Ive been on around 10 flights, I wouldnt be scared to fly in the US but overseas I would be cautious

 

[KeithTalent]

Nope, was just on a long intercontinental flight and loved it, except for the guy with horrible breath breathing on me from the seat behind!

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: IAteYourMother
wow, never gone overseas in 40ish years?

Never really had a desire to. I still haven't seen all the sites in the US, and there are plenty of things to see here. I'd love to get to Alaska one day... I'd definitely fly though!

 

[SKORPI0]

No afraid, it's the crashing that I fear might happen no matter how slim the chances are.

 

[Yossarian]

I love flying. I fear dumbass pilots who don't check their heading indicator before trying to takeoff from a dark runway.

 

[meltdown75]

I've flown about 10 times and never had any trouble yet.

Aren't you more likely to be struck by lightning?

 

[zbalat]

Originally posted by: Yossarian
I love flying. I fear dumbass pilots who don't check their heading indicator before trying to takeoff from a dark runway.

...Agreed.

I really want to know what went wrong and hopefully it will never happen again.

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: SpunkyJones
I'm afraid of flying but it has nothing to do with recent events. I'm just a wussie.

wussie:|

 

[skyking]

Originally posted by: zbalat

Originally posted by: Yossarian
I love flying. I fear dumbass pilots who don't check their heading indicator before trying to takeoff from a dark runway.

...Agreed.

I really want to know what went wrong and hopefully it will never happen again.

What went wrong? Pilot error. It will happen again.