Air travel remains 21 times safer than driving in a car, according to the National Safety Council. A study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that the chance of being killed in a commercial-airline crash is 1 in 8 million.
Nevertheless, when a single crash kills hundreds of people, consumers begin asking questions, and with easy access information–raw data and analysis–the Internet is where many turn.
The Federal Aviation Administration evaluates foreign governments’ ability to meet aviation-safety standards established by the United Nations, and reports its findings on its Web site (www.faa.gov). However, the FAA steers clear of ranking foreign and domestic airlines by their safety records.
The new Air Travelers Association (www.1800airsafe.com) has used 10 years of fatal-accident history to create its Airline Safety Report Card, which assigns letter grades and numerical scores to each of 260 scheduled passenger airlines in 107 countries.
By visiting the Air Safety Web site (www.airsafe.com), consumers can check the fatal-crash histories of specific airlines and aircraft models and can get information on the last 10 fatal commercial-jet crashes in the world and the last 10 U.S.-related fatal crashes.
The FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment ranks South Korea — home to Korean Air, which recently had a crash in Guam that killed about 225 passengers and crew — in Category 1, meeting standards of the U.N.’s International Civil Aviation Organization.
Korean Air received a “C” on the Air Travelers Association report card, ranking 21st among 27 Northern Asia airlines with a 72.4 score, based on its three previous fatal accidents since 1987.
“It’s physically impossible to rank airlines for safety,” FAA spokeswoman Kathryn Creedy said recently, defending the agency’s approach to providing safety information to the public. “It cannot be done. There are too many variables.”
An airline with 500 planes, for example, probably will have more accidents than one with 10 planes, according to the FAA. Similarly, the more-popular aircraft types would tend to be involved in accidents more than other models, the FAA says.
However, the Air Travelers Association attempted to take those factors into consideration in developing its report card, said a spokesperson.
A British aviation-consulting firm provided the data, and airlines that had fewer than 20,000 flights during the 10-year period were eliminated, as were passenger-charter-only and cargo-only airlines.
Based on their number of flights and their crash histories, 28 of the 29 U.S. airlines ranked received an “A” on the report card, with scores from 93.7 to 100. Only ValuJet, with a 33.6 score, received an “F.”
The Air Travelers Association also maintains an Air Safety Hotline, where airline-safety problems can be reported. Call 800-577-5101, or send info to its e-mail address hotline@1800airsafe.com.
WEB SITE DETAILS
– The Federal Aviation Administration’s home page (www.faa.gov) offers the country-by-country International Aviation Safety Assessment and also carries reports of incidents other than accidents.
– The Air Travelers Association (www.1800airsafe.com) offers its Airline Safety Report Card, together with a trial membership in a travel-discount program, for $4.95. Call 800-247-7233.
– Air Safety (www.airsafe.com) provides a page with safety information and fatality rates by aircraft.
