Generally speaking, plane travel is very safe. It is often pointed out that traveling by plane is much safer than traveling by car. People may worry about flying more than they worry about driving, but it’s a misconception that flying is more dangerous.
That being said, when you look into aviation accident statistics, you usually find that small plane crashes are far more common. They don’t get as much attention because the plane may only be carrying a handful of people, so you don’t get the big news stories that you see if an airliner goes down, but it is far more likely that someone would be injured or even killed in a small plane. Why is this?
The same safety systems aren’t in place
One of the biggest reasons is just that commercial airlines understand that safety has to be a priority. There are a lot of rules and regulations that they have to follow. Certain checks have to be done, maintenance has to be carried out on a specific schedule and there are many different approvals needed before a plane ends up in the air.
With a small plane, you just don’t have all the same rules. The pilot might use their own discretion. They may rely on their own experience to decide if something is a problem or not. They have a bit more freedom to make whatever choice they want, and so mechanical issues are more common with small planes. There are also issues with pilot error and experience, of course, but these mechanical issues are likely more common even than people realize.
If you’ve lost a loved one in an aviation accident, or if you’ve been seriously injured in a plane crash, you need to know exactly what legal steps to take.