Is it still safe to fly? An aviation expert weighs in
Boeing has recently made headlines for all the wrong reasons, but that doesn’t mean we should panic.
Article by:
Elaine Obran
ANU Reporter Senior Writer
It might be because we are in a cramped metal box, 35,000 ft in the air that makes flying feel unnatural. Were our fragile bags of flesh ever meant to barrel through the stratosphere?
It’s a question you may have been asking yourself more than usual lately, with air manufacturer Boeing pleading guilty to criminal fraud over the 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people between 2019 and 2020.
The charge confirms suspicions that a key flight-control system was the reason for the crash. Although the software pilot training cut costs for Boeing, it was a decision that proved fatal when the pilots lost control of the aircrafts.
Since the crashes, a series of other incidents — including a mid-flight door blowout in January of this year — have added fuel to concerns regarding the manufacturer’s oversight, regulations and safety.
But with air travel on the rise post-COVID, vetoing flying all together isn’t really an option. Are there ways you can do it more safely? Well, yes and no.
Dr Jonathan Couldrick is an Honorary Associate Professor from the ANU College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics.
With three decades of experience working in and around the aviation industry (including a stint jumping out of planes), Couldrick is better placed than most to affirm the safety of flying.
“Apart from travelling by train, flying is 30 times safer than other forms of transport – -it’s also the quickest way to cover large distances across land or water,” he says.
“The difference between flying compared to transport like cars, is that when you have an accident in an aircraft, you risk falling out of the sky; that’s just the nature of being at altitude.
“There is also the element of control. When you get into a plane, you are handing off control to someone else, whereas people perceive they are safer when in control of their own car. But it’s important to remember those statistics and how much safer flying is compared to driving.”
For those who find little comfort in statistics and coincidental death tombolas, understanding more about where you are flying may be more beneficial than ruminating over the type of aircraft you are flying in.
“Third World countries and emerging nations with under-resourced regulators are riskier,” Couldrick says.
“These countries statistically have more accidents and fatalities. In contrast, in North America – where we’re hearing about accidents, small bumps and scrapes, as well as fatal accidents where someone has been killed or later dies resulting from the accident – things go wrong less often due to the maturity of both the operators and the regulators.
“When it comes to flying, economics also kick in, where a business needs to find a balance – to make it completely safe, it’ll be more expensive.
“This requires a mature regulator to hold organisations to account. Australia has a mature regulator and it is safe to fly here.”
Like any form of public transportation, flying has a small level of risk – particularly as the demand for air travel increases.
“Is there a cultural issue at Boeing? Are they cutting corners? I don’t entirely know, but that question ties back to feelings of loss of control – that is the unknown, but there will be in-depth investigations to resolve this” Couldrick says.
“Overall, flying on commercial aircraft is safe, but I would say that manufacturers of novel technologies are trying to get things into service as soon as possible. There is a balance between getting technology out there and being overly cautious, which drives the tension between businesses and regulators.”
Looking ahead to the future, developing sustainable aircraft may require more innovation and risk-taking than the Australian aviation industry is currently comfortable with.
“If we are just concerned with safety, then it will take longer to get better aircraft out there, whether that is advanced air mobility solutions (‘flying taxis’) or greener aircraft to meet our net zero commitments. We are going to have to change our position to get a more sustainable aviation system. We are currently burning dinosaurs,” Couldrick says.
“That’s going to require us to change how we operate. We’re not going to have 100 years or 50 years of data to say this is the best way for us to create and operate a hydrogen or an electrical aircraft. Things are going to have to change.”
That’s not to take away from the safety of commercial flying currently, even when it comes to a Boeing 737 Max.
“Would I fly a 737 Max with an airline operator out of a Third World country?” Couldrick asks. “Most likely, because 737 Max is a newer aircraft and the amount of oversight these aircraft will now get will make it one of the safest.
“The conversation shouldn’t be, ‘I won’t fly Boeing’ or ‘I won’t fly in a particular country’, it’s more a case of to fly or not to fly to reduce our own carbon footprints.
“Aviation hasn’t fundamentally changed in the last couple of years. Even with these accidents, aviation is still the safest way to travel great distances. We are just more aware of the accidents these days.”
Top image: Commercial Boeing 737 Max. Photo: Miguel Lagoa
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