Air Asia flight 8501

Despite a series of high-profile airplane accidents in 2014 such as the Air Asia flight 8501 and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, air travel remains the best option due to advancements in technology (Moore 7). According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), only one out of every 3.1 million flights worldwide was involved in an accident. Since 2014, there has been a steady improvement due to significant changes in airplane technology and design that have reduced airline accidents (Stuart 19). This essay will argue that flying is a superior mode of transportation to driving. According to research, there are several reasons why air travel is better than road travel.

Crash Rate

According to the USA Today, the number of road accidents is seen to be higher than airplanes. About 1.27 fatalities per 100 vehicle miles were found to take place through the highways. To provide contrast to this, the national transportation safety showed that the plane crashes, as highlighted by the media, rarely happens. In fact, there is a higher chance to die while driving to the airport than to fly (Watson 28).

Safety when Flying

Since the invention of airplanes in 1903 by the Wright brothers, flying is always becoming better. For instance, for the past ten years, there has been an excellent aviation history with only 153 fatalities. To support these statistics, it is equivalent that there are just two deaths heard per each 100 million passengers that fly commercially (Dobrea Huţan, 239). When this fraction is compared to driving, more than 30,000 deaths happen with motor vehicles every year (Watson 31).

Air Traffic Control

The best thing about flying is that there is no need of getting scared from watching what is behind you because pilots usually have various assisting eyes that guide them from the time they take off through landing. The advantage is that they can rotate around the clock 24 hours daily by use of the radar procedure so that they could give instructions, track the airplanes in the sky and have precise information concerning the flight conditions (Dobrea and Huţan 244). Therefore, it’s not only the pilots that keep you safe while flying.

Rigorous Training

Anyone who has a driving license might think of going back to the driving schools. In New York, to pass the driving test, the applicant must demonstrate their mastery of braking, steering, parking and a three-point behind a single parked vehicle before they are issued with the driving licenses. When it comes to pilots, one must pass through the flight school and first receive the permission from the federal aviation (Froesch 147). Later, the pilots are still required to attend two years of Aviation College before they are given the chance of flying an aircraft. Unlike the road where one has to prove specific mastery skills to qualify, airplane traveling is safe because pilots undergo intense screening to determine whether they are eligible to fly.

No Reckless Flying

On today’s roads, many drivers ride recklessly because when they operate the motor vehicle, they feel mundane. Such errors like lack of seat belt, multitasking and not using the blinker sign unusually cause fatal accidents (Watson 41). The air industry, on the other hand, is very cautious to avoid such errors, no matter how small or large it may be. In this case, the entire cast of regulators, pilots and airline crews undergo extensive training about information that concerns flying hazards with the aim of preventing the accidents from happening other than reacting to them. This means that unless the pilot has been instructed to take off, he will not take the flight.

Technology

Without belittling the cars latest technology, the technology in airlines makes the vehicle look like a vessel from the Stone Age when compared. Despite the fact that the GPS might have the ability to detect traffic and give an alternative route, technology on airplanes controls the entire flight (Dobrea and Huţan 264). In this case, planes have the turbulence detection programming that predicts the altitude, intensity, and movement of turbulence. Also, in runways, technology communicates between the aircraft to caution pilots in case of an incoming flight. This means that the technology in airplanes controls the entire company. In addition, pilots don’t need to steer an aircraft while on air because of the technology used that have electronic feature controls which replace the old mechanical controls.

Conclusion

Statistically speaking, airplanes are safer than driving. Despite the fact that there was news that showed how planes crashed and disappeared in 2014, it is still a fact that driving is more dangerous. As highlighted, the crash rate between air travel and driving shows that airplanes rarely crush as compared to vehicles. This is because of the advanced technology that alerts the pilots, they undergo rigorous training, and there is no reckless driving. The essay has supported the thesis by showing that air travel is better than driving.

Works Cited

Dobrea, Dan-Marius, and Cosmin Huţan. “A Complex GPS Safety System for Airplanes.” Intelligent Systems and Technologies Studies in Computational Intelligence, 2009, pp. 233–289. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-01885-5_13.

Froesch, Charles. “It is Rigorous Learning with a Sparkle at Pret A Manger.” Industrial and Commercial Training, vol. 43, no. 6, June 2011, pp. 144–151. doi:10.1108/ict.2011.03743faa.003.

James, Stuart. “World Air Transport Statistics.” International Air Transport Association, vol. 13, no. 8, 2010, pp. 16–27. doi:10.1108/rr.1999.13.8.16.417.

Moore, Duncan T. “Mirages, Malaysia Air Flight 370 and other Interesting Optical Phenomena.” Latin America Optics and Photonics Conference, 2014, pp. 4–8., doi:10.1364/laop.2014.lth1b.2.

Watson, John. “Reportable Accidents.” Blackstone's Police Manual Volume 3: Road Policing 2017, vol. 5, no. 23, 21 Aug. 2016, pp. 12–44. doi:10.1093/law/9780198783077.003.0004.