Why your chances of surviving an airline crash are better than 90 percent
Airline news this week was dominated by the passenger-thwarted Christmas Day attack in Detroit but as recent events show, crashes under natural conditions are more survivable than ever, according to safety experts.
"The aviation industry has made enormous improvements in aircraft safety over the past 20 years," says CBS news correspondent Kelly Cobiella.
So much so that most crashes are survivable.
"Many people still think that if you have an accident you’re going to die," said aviation expert John Goglia. "But the fact is that 90 to 95 percent of the people involved in accidents today survive."
"Flying on a large commercial aircraft still remains one of the safest forms of transportation, and statistics suggest it has gotten even safer in recent years," according to Science Life.
The lifetime odds of dying of heart disease are 1-in-5, while those of dying in an auto accident are 1-in-100. The odds of dying in an air travel accident are 1-in-20,000.
The reasons for accident reductions are many and varied, according to National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson. They include better training of crews and improved air traffic control.
Some recent life-saving changes are simple ones. For example:
