Salon’s Ask the pilot on why airplane mishaps seem such sensationalist news:
First and foremost, millions of people find it hard to reconcile with the notion of traveling hundreds of miles per hour, far above the earth, inside pressurized tubes weighing hundreds of thousands of pounds. Flying is not natural for human beings, and while it doesn’t quite violate the laws of physics, it does seem to violate any and all common sense. Technology has made it work, but while airplane travel isn’t statistically dangerous, inherently it’s another story. I wouldn’t call us ignorant, exactly; most Americans can’t tell you how a television set works either, never mind a 747. The difference is, a TV set can’t crash into a skyscraper and kill 3,000 people — one of them you. In the end, everybody from veteran pilots to first-time fliers contemplates their mortality when stepping onto a plane, as well they should.
Second, the airlines themselves shoulder a heavy portion of the blame for being such lousy communicators. Airlines have a terrible habit of responding to anomalies — be it a minor malfunction or a catastrophic crash — in one of two ways: either with total silence or, perhaps worse, by employing hideous oversimplifications. A flight from Las Vegas is canceled because “it’s too hot to fly”; a crew aborts a landing because “a plane crossed in front of us.” At Flagstaff, Ariz., counter staff at America West Express told a group of delayed passengers that several volunteers were needed to give up their seats. When passengers asked why, they were told, “We need to lighten the load. The plane has been having problems and we’re afraid one of the engines might cut out.” The result is nearly total lack of trust from the public. People dislike airlines and don’t believe anything they say — partly because they never actually say anything — or, when they do, it’s both condescending and terrifying.
Amen!
Patrick Smith, the pilot, notes that 2 billion people boarded commercial aircraft in 2005; 1,050 of them were killed.
Note: This item from the same Salon web page (i.e., same link) as preceding item.