Being a pilot is dangerous

[Erlanger]

I don't know were they got these numbers from but a pilot is the 3rd. most dangerous job. I guess they got the 135 Alaska pilots figured in.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/16/pf/2005_most_dangerous_jobs/index.htm?cnn=yes

(scroll to the bottom of web page.)

 

[FN FAL]

Fifty policemen and sheriff's patrol officers were murdered on the job, and another 81 died in traffic accidents and other incidents.

You mean the part where more cops died in car accidents on the job, than murder?

 

[A Squared]

Someting doesn't ad up wth these numbers. If you go to the data on the Bureau of Labor Statistics,

http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0209.pdf

It is claimed that there were 17 fatalities among airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers. I'm not sure where that number comes from. There was only one airline accident in 2005 in which the piltos died, the Chalks Mallard crash. SO that's 2........ wher do the other 15 come from? Even if we expand the definition of airline to include Part 125 operations, it's still a mystery, as there were no Part 125 fatalities in 2005, also I couldn't find any airline repositioning flights under Part 91 which had fatalities (the Pinnacle CRJ crash in MO was in 2004)


So where do the other 15 fatalities come in? The document says that all 17 fatalities were "transportation incidents" Well, if they weren't in airplane crashes, where were they? In the hotel bus? Are hotel buses really that dangerous? And if so, why isn't hotel bus driver in the top ten most dangerous jobs? Do they include pilots wh die in car crashes on their way to work? Are pilots really such bad drivers?

I guess my view of this is that I wouldn't draw any conclusions from this report until I have a lot more information about how they developed thier statistics.

 

[stearnst]

Someting doesn't ad up wth these numbers...

I don't know, but depending on which student I'm flying with on any given day, I'd argue that instructing certainly has its dangerous side...

"Alright, let's lower that nose, watch your airspeed, back on centerline, lower that nose, AIRSPEED, LOWER THE NOSE....MY CONTROLS!!!"

 

[Workin'Stiff]

Would Pt. 135 numbers also be included in on that total figure??? Being that you can consider 135 commercial air transportation.

 

[Workin'Stiff]

And the article never specifies our data to pertain to airline pilots only. They state that the figure represents "Aircraft" pilots. That left the door wide open to include all types of commercial flight. I'm also assuming that the are referring to commercial flight, hence "Dangerous Jobs" thus elluding to being compensated for your duties.

 

[A Squared]

Would Pt. 135 numbers also be included in on that total figure???

Being that you can consider 135 commercial air transportation.And the article never specifies our data to pertain to airline pilots only. They state that the figure represents "Aircraft" pilots. That left the door wide open to include all types of commercial flight. I'm also assuming that the are referring to commercial flight, hence "Dangerous Jobs" thus elluding to being compensated for your duties.

No. Part 135 numbers are not included in the "Airline Pilot, Copilot and Flight engineer" data. Those would be in the sub-classification "commercial pilots" for which there were 64 fatalities, also all in the category of "transportation incidents" This gives a total number of 81 fatalaties for the classification "Aircraft pilots and flight engineers" which includes the sub classifications "Airline Pilots, Copilots and Flight engineers" and "Commercial pilots" It is the overall classification of "Aircraft pilots and flight engineers" which has the third highest incidence of fatalities, and that in cludes the Airling pilots and FEs Note, had you read the link I provided, I wouldn't be explaining this. There was a reason for that.

My point is this: The fatality numbers for airline pilots is so radically different than the number of airliner crashes with pilot fatalities that the data is either badly flawed, or there are a he11 of a lot of crew bus fatalities among airline pilots. GIven the disparity of the numbers of airline carashes and fatalities, one might expect to find a similar disparity in the non airline commercial accident rate. In fact last year (or perhaps the year before) when the BLS released the figures and everyone was exclaiming about how dangerous aviation is, the "commercial pilot" sub classifiction had the same disparity. I haven't sorted through the non-airline commercial flying accidents this year, but chances are the same is true this year.

SO the question remains, why are the fatalitiy figures quoted by the BLS so much higher than the aircraft fatality data? Is the data flawed? Or are (proportionally) huge numbers of pilots dying in non-aircraft "transportation incidents"? If so, why do proportionally more pilots die in non aircraft "transportation incidents" than truck drivers (66.9/100K vis 29.1/ 100K)?

Anyone?

 

[Workin'Stiff]

Note, had you read the link I provided, I wouldn't be explaining this. There was a reason for that.

Sorry, didn't mean to offend ya in any way... I only had enough time to read the USA Today article and not sort through 15 pages of statistical info from the BLS... No harm, no foul????

 

[JimG]

Heck.....this is nothing new....

My mother and mother-in-law(s) have been telling me this for years to get me to quit flying (to no avail).

I told my wife this morning when it was on the news that I don't drink, don't smoke, don't fish, and don't cut down trees.....

I've got to have some fun in my life.

 

[kneeshoe]

If our job is so dangerous, then don't we deserve more $$$$$. And for that matter, we deserve more women too. Chicks dig guys with a dangerous side!