COVINGTON, Ga. (AP) — Two people were killed when a single-engine plane crashed shortly after takeoff late Saturday from a small airport east of Atlanta, authorities said
Police said responding officers found the aircraft and the two victims in woods just north of the runway in Newton County, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) east of downtown Atlanta.
The crash is being investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board
Comparing accidents per hour might make sense if you’re only looking at them as recreational activities—but if you’re comparing them as forms of transportation, shouldn’t we be comparing accidents per mile?
Yeah you could totally make that argument. A cessna cruises at around 125 knots (143 mph) and google tells me the speed limit on a US highway is 85 mph.
It’s still less safe than driving a car, and not as safe as people assume all flying is (thanks to commercial flying being amazingly safe).
Only cager squares follow the speed limit
24.83 fatalities in 2019 and 25.95 in 2018 per 100 million miles ridden on motorcycle according to the source of the other article: https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812979.pdf
If we take the value for personal flights:
I’m going to assume 125 mph as I’m skeptical of your 145 mph figure.
= 21.1 fatal per 125 million miles
= 16.88 fatal per 100 million miles of personal flights
I’d basically conclude that personal flights and motorbike are in the same ballpark whether you’re looking at hours or miles.
No, I would agree that comparing by hour is reasonable. Most light aircraft use (in my area at least) is generally recreational. People are flying because they enjoy the hobby rather than because they have a destination in mind, therefore they’ll fly for a long duration but the distance travelled might not be far