FLYING IS THE SAFEST WAY TO TRAVEL

If longevity is your goal in life:

• You might think that the safest way to live longer is to stay at home. and mostly in bed so you do not fall.  
• But that could get awfully boring, if not impossible to do for a variety of reasons.  And unhealthy.
• So being a normal human being, you will today be faced with the need to get around.

• You can live in a community where you can safely walk to almost everything.  As for example, living in a seniors' community.  But this means you first need to get old.
• On the other hand, in terms of death rate per miles traveled, flying on a commercial airline is SAFER than walking.  Here from Allied Universal:

Yes, flying on a commercial airline is statistically the safest way to travel, even when compared to walking. While walking is a relatively safe activity, it is significantly more dangerous per mile traveled than flying. 

• According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, walking is...
• 36 time more dangerous than driving.
• 300 times more dangerous than flying.

• 
  While beneficial for health, walking involves risks such as falls, collisions with vehicles and other hazards, like getting fatally mugged or being eaten by a crocodile.
• Here, the comparative parameters are deaths per mile traveled.

About walking.

• The average adult will walk over 75,000 miles in a lifetime, which is  three times around the world.
• One averages 6839 steps/day.  I have a pedometer, and I think I now average maybe 3000 steps a day, except when I used cart for 18 holes on a golf course, it is around 6500 steps for this alone.  Of course, I'm old.
• 47 per cent of people feel refreshed after a walk while 34 per cent are happy and 43 per cent have a sense of calmness.
• So do walk when you safely can, but be careful about falling.

More importantly, though, don't be afraid to use a vehicle when going longer distances, and take a commercial flight when possible.

• Globally, over 1.35 million people die/year in road accidents.
• Pedestrians are 23%, are 311,000 deaths/year.
• During the past five years, 144 commercial airline fatalities/year.  Of course, just this year, with less than half the year so far, there have been 300 deaths.

Relative death rates (per 100,000 miles traveled):

• Commercial airline  0.01
• Train  0.04
• You know what this means?  One death per 11 million miles of commercial flight travel.  On the other hand, I've flown 3 million miles, so I'm getting up there.

Comparing various mode of transport:

• Motorcycle travel is the least safe mode of transportation, with a fatality rate approximately 24 times higher than that of car accidents per million miles traveled.
• Car travel is risky and contributes significantly to daily fatalities and injuries. Car accidents result in an average of 102 fatalities per day and over five million injuries annually.
• Private, recreational boating is significantly more dangerous than passenger boating. Private, recreational boating accidents account for 90% of boating travel fatalities, with passenger boats approximately making up the other 10%.
• Rail crossings carry the biggest train safety risk. The vast majority of train injuries and fatalities occur at crossings. In 2023, 25% of the total 954 deaths occurred at rail crossings.
• Bus transportation carries less risk. Bus Accidents (school buses, charter buses, city buses, or airport shuttles) comprise less than 10% of annual traffic fatalities in the United States.

Commercial airline travel is very safe:

• Incredibly, the average annual injury rate for air travel is .01 injuries per 100 million passenger miles traveled, compared with 48 injuries for the same distance traveled in cars and trucks.
• The average annual fatality rate over that time was .01 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. Airline researchers also note that based on 2022 flight fatality data, a person would have to fly every day for 25,214 years to experience a fatal accident.

While I thought I was getting up there in miles traveled, this statistic just above provides significant reassurance.

Okay, so commercial air travel is safe.  Is it worth your while to be concerned about where you sit on a plane to further improve your chances of living longer?  According to Time magazine:

• I remember a period a couple decades ago when more planes were crashing.  In those days it was open seating.  Passengers first entering the plane rushed to the back.

• 
  Early studies confirmed that the back of the plane was the safest.
• Time itself did a study in 2015 and found that the middle seats in the back had the lowest fatality.  The worst seats were on the aisle in middle third of the cabin. 

• 
  A 2017 National Transportation Safety Board study investigating 20 plane crashes since 1971 found that those sitting in the back of the plane had a higher chance of staying alive than those in the front.  
• Also, those nearby the wing had a better chance of survival.  This latter mostly because the wing increased structural support around those seats.  
• The wing tends to be closer to the front of the plane than the back, or in the vicinity of the rear of the business class seats and around the premium economy area.
• About that Air India flight where only one person sitting next to the emergency exit door surviving?
• The angle the plane fell was unique.
• An aircraft usually goes down nose first, so being in front is almost always the worst.
• But this flight sunk into the ground with nose up.  Thus those in front, and 11A is much closer to the front than back, were in an advantageous location.
• 11A was also close to the wing, which provided structural support.
• 
  Being  in the exit row was also a plus.  Mary Schiavo, an aviation inspector who wrote a book on how to fly safe, says she attempts to get a seat in the exit row.
• Schiavo also indicated she carries a smoke hood as a carry-on, and wears long sleeves and pants.  The more protection you have, the better.  She also learns how to open the emergency door, and this varies with the plane.
• Clearly, it's safer to sit at the back of the plane than the front.  So why are first class seats at the front?  Basically, flying is safe, so why worry?

I'll close with BTS.  What...who?  

• This is that South Korean boy band, Bangtan Sonyeondan, that was the first from Asia to attain a #1 Billboard ranking.  It was in 2018, their Tear became the first foreign-language #1 album.  In 2020, Dynamite hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs, the second time this has happened from Asia.  
• 
  In 1963, Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto reached #1 with Sukiyaki.  
• In 1985, he was on a Japan Air Lines flight that crashed into a Japanese mountain, killing all 509 passengers.
• I  remember this tragedy well, for one of my close friends later related to me that he was late arriving for this flight, and was prevented from boarding it.  So he sat down, angry, and wrote a note to JAL for not allowing him into the plane even though it was still at the gate.  Never actually submitted that message, and showed me the crumpled paper.

About BTS today, they closed down their act in 2022 so they all could serve three years in the South Korean military. That year, they were featured in a White House press conference, representing their country.  Well, six members have now completed their service, and the seventh will be released by the end of this month.  Individuals will initiate some entertaining, but the group is expected to release their next album sometime later this year, and a world tour is expected in 2026.

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