Takeoff and landing are widely considered the most dangerous parts of a flight.
"From a safety standpoint, however, the worst seat to sit in if there were a plane crash is a seat in the middle row in the middle section of the plane. The fatality rate for that section of a lot of analyzed crashes is quite high," O'Donnell explains.
Take-off is the most risky phase of flight regarding the risk of Loss of Control in Flight accidents. Data on LOC-I accidents, both fatal and non-fatal, indicate that the highest number of accidents occurs during take-off.
Nepal has suffered 42 fatal plane crashes since 1946, according to the Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety database. Before the January 15 Yeti Airlines crash, the last major air accident occurred on May 29, 2022, when all 22 people on board a Tara Air plane crashed in the mountainous Mustang district.
Many say that the most dangerous part of a flight is during these phases (descent, approach, and landing) simply because pilots need more than enough experience and mastery to perfect a landing at any given situation. Plus, the aircraft's engines are at a minimum or very low power settings during these phases.
If anything goes wrong, the likely result is a runway accident, which can have deadly consequences. According to a study published by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, nearly half of all aviation accidents occur during the final approach or landing and 14 percent occur during takeoff or initial climb.
Landing is the most difficult stage of flight, requesting very high pilotage skills from pilots [1]. Landing is accomplished by slowing down and descending to the runway. This speed reduction is accomplished by reducing thrust and/or inducing a greater amount of drag using flaps, landing gear or speed brakes.
When flying over land, of course it is more likely that there will be more airfields closer to the aircraft at any given time. However, because of lessons learned from its history and the improvements in aircraft and engine reliability, crossing the oceans is deemed as safe as flying over land.
In the middle, in the back
Nevertheless, a survey by the American magazine Time which examined 35 years of data on plane crashes found that the middle rear seats of an airplane had the lowest fatality rate: 28 per cent, compared to 44 per cent for the seats from the central aisle.
So if you only fly on commercial airliners, you're in very safe hands. In the United States, there are 0.07 fatalities per billion passenger miles, which translates like this: If you fly 500 miles every day for a year, you have a fatality risk of one in 85,000. In short, flying is, by far, the safest mode of transit.
When is the safest time to fly? Summertime is the safest season to fly. Earlier in the day is the safest time of day to fly. More accidents occur later in the day when the pilots are tired, especially when the weather is bad and there have been delays.
August Ranks as the Deadliest Month for Air Crashes in 3 Years.
Common causes of takeoff and landing accidents include: Collisions with ground personnel. Overshooting a runway can cause a collision with ground crews or vehicles that were not cleared to cross the tarmac. Bad weather.
Takeoff and landing are widely considered the most dangerous parts of a flight.
Best seats to survive a plane crash
Doug Drury, a professor at Central Queensland University, analyzed several flights that involved crashes and fatalities and came up with answers. It turns out that the aisle seats at the back of the plane are the safest, with an average 28% fatality rate if the plane crashes.
A seat at the back of the plane, while not popular with travellers who want to get off the plane quickly, could be the safest place to sit. According to a 2015 study, seats in the middle of the cabin had the highest fatality rate at 39 per cent, followed by a 38 per cent fatality rate in the front.
The good news is that an airplane crash doesn't necessarily mean certain death. In fact, of the 568 U.S. plane crashes between 1980 and 2000, more than 90 percent of crash victims survived [source: BBC]. In the event of an air disaster, there are things you can do that can increase your odds of living.
Commercial plane crashes are nowadays very rare, with approximately 45,000 flights typically completed each day in the US, all without fatality. That's a number that continues to rise, post Covid.
Are small planes less safe than larger? It might seem that way, but there are other contributing factors. "In a nutshell, the size of an airplane is not in any way linked to safety," explains Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StretegivAero Research.
Another reason that planes may not fly directly west to Australia is that airlines look to cut fueling costs by taking more fuel stops in airports across the different airports in Asia. There are few airplanes that could handle a transpacific flight, but a flight of this caliber usually lasts between 11 to 12 hours.
The most common reason is that there are no airstrips or airports on many of the small islands, so if a plane had to make an emergency landing, it would be difficult to find a place to land. Additionally, the Pacific Ocean is vast and remote, so if a plane were to go down, it would be very difficult to find.
Although, it may “feel” like we face more turbulence when flying over water bodies, it is not really so. Unless, of course, we are passing through a patch of cyclonic weather. In general, chances of turbulence are highest when we pass over mountains or cities with high-rises.
What is Turbulence? The disruption in the air current which helps a plane to fly results in shakes and it is referred to as turbulence. Also known as air pockets, turbulence can cause a sudden loss of altitude temporarily.
It is possible that a pilot may be nervous, but they will act in accordance with their training. My experience is that professional pilots are people who deal with abnormal or emergency situations effectively.
While landing, speed is largely affected by the aircrafts current weight, commercial airplanes typically land between 130 and 160 mph (112 to 156 knots).