Emily wrote in
:

Dylan Smith wrote:
On 2006-09-27, Emily wrote:
Jose wrote:
Instrument flying in light airplanes appeals to daredevil technogeeks,
and damn few others.
I don't think that's a fair or true statement.
unsafe. To say that those of who who fly IFR in light airplanes are
daredevils to a great disservice, and plays right into the hands of
those who think GA is dangerous, period.

To nitpick here, he did say '...and damn few others', implying that not
all light plane IFR people are daredevil technogeeks.

No, he just implied most.

Also, GA *is*
dangerous, period, in comparison to most things we do in our daily
lives.

Of course. No one's debating that.

Most insurance forms here don't even *ask* if you ride
a motorcycle, but they ask if you fly in GA aircraft

See, I don't even think that's true. Granted, with no dependents, my
only life insurance is group through work, but it even covers me when I
flight instruct! Obviously not all insurance companies think it's
unsafe. Just for kicks, I checked into extra with USAA, they don't
care, either.

I'm going to ask some friends of mine who are actuaries about this. The
bottom line, though, is I think this whole thing is a bunch of crap.

According to the AMA (at
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content...ct/291/10/1238 ), 20,000
Americans a year die from having sex, as compared with 43,000 who die in
Automobile Accidents, and 17,000 who die using illicit drugs.

75,000 Americans die from Microbial Agents, and 55,000 die from toxic agents.

Aviation accidents didn't make the list. 820 people per year die in aviation
accidents.

Of course, we know that Smoking and being fat are leading causes of death,
and are also causes for insurance company rate increases. So being fat or
smoking is more dangerous than flying.

I know there are proportion reasons as to why aviation didn't make the list.
However, I personally believe that most modern day Americans spend more than
twice as many hours per month driving than having sex.

So based on the above, having sex is statistically more dangerous than
flying. Why don't the insurance companies rate you based on the frequency
with which you engage in sexual activity? (Then again, this certainly
explains why being married causes a rate reduction!)

Furthermore, there is a seemingly disporportionate number of people who die
from microbial agents. Most microbial agents are passed by exposure in large
numbers. I can't say for sure, but my geuss is that proportionately speaking,
the average American spends fewer than twice as many hours in large groups
(ie: parties, discos, bars, buses, etc.) exposed to microbial agents than
they do driving or flying GA. This would imply that it is more dangerous to
ride a bus or airline than it is to fly privately in a GA aircraft.

According to http://www.deathreference.com/Ho-Ka/...Mortality.html
approximately 50,000 Americans per year die in occupational injuries. So in
other words, working is more dangerous than flying.

According to http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/causes.html and numerous other
sources, falls are the second leading accident fatality behind motor
vehicles, and the leading cause of death in home accidents. So basically,
standing is more dangerous than flying, especially at home.

According to the CIA World Fact Book,
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications...k/geos/us.html about 7 out of
1000 male babies die at childbirth in the US. Slightly less so for females.
If you calculate all the numbers, it's about 24,600 infant fatalities per
year. So basically, being born is more dangerous than flying.

This website is extremely enlightening:
http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds.htm

According to it, 742 people die in Air & Space transport accidents. The odds
of someone dying in a Air & Space accident in their lifetime is 1 in 5,051.
The odds, however, of dying as a pedestrian in a motor vehicle accident in
ones lifetime is 1 in 626. Basically, it's nearly 10 times more dangerous to
cross the street as it is to fly in an airplane. By the way, the odds of
dying in a motorcycle accident are 1 in 1020, nearly 5x more dangerous than
flying. The closest reasonable match I could find was "pedalcyclist" at 4919.
So basically, flying is about as dangerous as riding your bike.

The odds of dying from choking ("Inhalation and Ingestion of food causing
obstruction of respirator track") is 4284 to 1, so just slightly higher than
flying. So basically, eating is slightly more dangerous than flying.

Accidental drowning in a natural body of water (as opposed to a pool or
bathtub) is 1 in 3060 - substantially more dangerous than flying. Whereas the
odds of dying from exposure to forces of nature is one in 3288. And
accidental poisoning by exposure to gases and vapours is 1 in 5432, just
slightly safer than flying.

So basically, it's safer to stay in a cave than it is to jump in a lake.

To put it in perspective, 2,465,150 die per year. Around 800 of them die in
aviation accidents. Why are we even talking about this? It's so insignificant
it's not even worth talking about!

I think people's fear of GA is not based on fact, but it's based on a
combination of Acrophobia (fear of heights) and Tachophobia (fear of speed).
And we just sit here and take it.

Well I'm not going to take it anymore! I don't buy it! We don't even affect
the statistics pool! Enough already about dying in GA! Let's just fly safe
and enjoy our life before we get killed crossing the street!