Flying safety

dannyjo22 said:
I know I shouldn't enter these threads but I'm curious as to why you think international travel aircraft get more special treatment. If anything the aircraft doing constant shorthaul pressure cycles and more landings take a far higher toll.



You don't work shorthaul operators that's for sure. Dailies are not done in the morning due to most work being done at night. They are done with the night work. We don't daily after.

They most certainly are refuelled too. Fuel loads are increasingly getting closer and tighter margins. An aircraft does not take off with 'there and back' fuel without a damn good reason and our crews have to enter a report reasoning why they took more fuel than was required.

Potable water tanks are no longer full on our flights because it was worked out it saved X millions in fuel per year. We single engine taxi to save fuel. We have experimented with different washes and polishes to see how it effects drag and fuel burn. I can assure you they then don't let the crews fly with 3 tonne of extra fuel.
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I stand corrected on that lot then, but the daily checks are done before the first flight of the day which is what I meant, then subsequent flights have a transit check before every departure.
 
[TW]Fox;25345939 said:
Some Airlines do operate quite an old fleet mind - Qatar is just not one of them which makes his post complete rubbish.

The majority of the British Airways 747 fleet is late 80's early 90's and my last flight was on one of Virgin Atlantics A340-300's which are all now circa 15 years old.
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I believe G-BNLP, a B747 is about to be flown abroad for storage/ scrappage very shortly, but the 747 will continue to be operated until about 2017, even some of the earlier B777 are beginning to show their age now mainly in the cabins.
 
Lazder said:
its funny that Ryanair is pretty much one of worlds safest airlines, with newest fleet... All of their Boeings are bought brand new.

I thought landing is most dangerous not take off??
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I always thought take off was more dangerous because the fuel is still at maximum level. Whereas when landing the fuel is basically empty, as the majority has been used on the flight, thus reducing the risk of explosion/fire.
 
timebomb26 said:
I always thought take off was more dangerous because the fuel is still at maximum level. Whereas when landing the fuel is basically empty, as the majority has been used on the flight, thus reducing the risk of explosion/fire.
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Landings are much more susceptible to pilot error which is main killer in modern aircraft... You dont need to do a lot during take-off apart from routine checks if you fail them, well you are on the ground so nothing will happen...

On other hand, if you get wrong approach/speed and get some proper strong crosswinds kicking about while you are trying to land on a piece of land most likely surrounded by sky-scrapers, houses, water and major motorways a lot more chances to make a critical mistake.

Plus remember that after 10 odd hours pilots arent exactly feeling fresh and there is a lot to do.

Far less than a critical mechanical error during a lift-off, humans are the weak point in modern air-travel.
 
Adsta said:
oh and one random event when I landed in Yekaterinburg (Russia) it was pretty darn cold and very icy at the time. When the plane landed I was still half asleep but everyone on the airplane was clapping in a round of applause :eek:
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I had this coming back from Romania earlier this year, we landed at Luton and all the Romanians were clapping and cheering....I guess we just have different expectations... :p
 
Freakbro said:
I had this coming back from Romania earlier this year, we landed at Luton and all the Romanians were clapping and cheering....I guess we just have different expectations... :p
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People from post Soviet republics always clap when the plane lands.... It is pretty much seen as saying "thank you" to the pilots.

Most ppl thank the driver of the bus... so you know, I dont see nothing wrong with this. I bet it makes pilots feel better.
 
ASK ME ABOUT THE MOON LANDINGS AND WHY MY HILARIOUS REFUSAL TO FLY ON PLANES WHICH WEREN'T MADE YESTERDAY (AND IN FRONT OF ME) IS BOTH A STELLAR IDEA AND A THREADWORTHY TOPIC.
 
groen said:
I am now considering to refuse flying on old planes and ask to be moved to a later flight and see if they can do it.
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Of course they can do it.

You won't however get a refund for your booked flight, and you'll have to pay full price for the new ticket.

You might also be waiting a few years for that later flight on a newer plane (until they decide to renew their fleet).
 
Its not the reliability of the aircraft you want to worry about, its the ability of the pilots.

For your sake don't start reading threads on PPRUNE.ORG, it will scare you!
 
groen said:
I don't have a fear of flying but I think planes are starting to get to such an age now that I am going to be careful about which planes I fly on.
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I sometimes find it worth seeing what planes different airlines use to fly a particular route - but more so for things like comfort and legroom, than for safety.

Long haul, I'd opt for an A380 if I could.

If you're concerned about safety, then you'd be best to just focus on flying with bigger airlines and sticking to major routes.


groen said:
I am now considering to refuse flying on old planes and ask to be moved to a later flight and see if they can do it.
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I highly doubt there's any point to this. There's no chance of any airline transferring you to another flight on 'safety fears'. Besides airlines will usually use the same type of plane to fly a particular route.


groen said:
Do you think it is going to be more often now that we start seeing them having technical faults. considering that a lot of the planes are getting on to 20+ years old now. Crashes just seem more frequent these days.
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If anything safety is improving and crashes are getting less frequent. This is beginning to sound like you do have a (irrational) fear of flying.

It is still by some way one of the safest ways to travel.


groen said:
Also one thing i never understand is why they give people on planes life jacket, that would be like giving people on a cruise ship parachutes. Surely giving each passenger a parachute under his seat would be a far better idea than a life jacket?
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The number of accidents involving planes is tiny. The number of accidents, where a parachute would have been any use (even to a trained parachutist?) is vanishingly small.

There are almost too many reasons to list for why this is a non-starter. Although I see others have already pointed a few of them out.


groen said:
I would still feel more safe if i knew there was a parachute under my seat rather than a life jacket. The chances of using the life jacket is slim. But if there is an emergency the plane can drop to jump ready altitude and we can open the doors and all jump out one by one in a controlled manner.
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It really does sound like you have an irrational fear of flying. The parachute may make you 'feel' safer, but it would just be a complete placebo. Why would airline spend a fortune to provide something which would offer an almost imperceivably small safety benefit.


groen said:
Maybe it is time to review the safety process on commercial flights.
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Perhaps it's time to review the various options for dealing with a fear of flying.
 
Lazder said:
err, so you havent flown 737,777,747 etc in past year at all?? So I guess 787 and A380 the only things u fly?
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What a strange post, the 737, 777 and 747 are all current production planes so it's perfectly possible to have flown on any of them and yet still only flown on younger planes :confused:
 
div0 said:
I sometimes find it worth seeing what planes different airlines use to fly a particular route - but more so for things like comfort and legroom, than for safety.

Long haul, I'd opt for an A380 if I could.
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Why? It is a very new plane.... I remember there was an incident when Qantas A380 ended up with a massive hole after explosion? No one was hurt though.

Something like 777 has far more history.

Fox,

I was referring to older modifications of planes I listed which you are most likely to fly on, e.g. with BA... 747-400 (not 747-8) 737(classic)

777 and 777-300 havent been delivered for about 6-7 years....

Otherwise you can argue that most likely those planes will never go out of service simply to continued upgrades by Boeing, they just change the 2nd number and discontinue previous ones
 
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