Pilots high Death rate

[siucavflight]

I dont think that these stats are right,

being US president has to be the deadliest.

There have 43 presidents and three of them have been killed at work.

 

[mattpilot]

I dont think that these stats are right,

being US president has to be the deadliest.

There have 43 presidents and three of them have been killed at work.

While you make a very interesting point, i hate having to correct you

Not 3, but 4 US presidents have been killed while in office. Namely, Abe lincoln, james garfield, william mckinley, and JFK.

 

[SkyWestCRJPilot]

There have actually been 8 presidents who have died in office. 4 were from assasination but I suppose an argument could be made that the job contributed to some of their natual causes. See this link. http://www.australianpolitics.com/usa/president/presidents-dead.shtml

For more info on Garfield's death see this link: http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/garfield/

For more on Mckinley's death see this link:http://www.buffalohistoryworks.com/panamex/assassination/mckinley.htm

Man I have way too much time on my hands tonight.

 

[NookyBooky]

A death rate of approxamately one in 1,000 per annum. Assuming even a 40 year career, that would suggest a four percent fatality rate over the course of a career.

I would venture to guess that ag pilots and aerial firefighters probably have better odds of dying than living assuming even a 30 year career.

 

[wrxpilot]

There some dangerous jobs out there, I once heard a rumor that the plane won't kill you but the pilot will, keep in mind flying is safe, logging, omg I wouldn't never do that, how about coal mining and black lund disease?

Interesting, how about Nascar drivers? any survery on them? Yeah go Danicka! How about a bounty hunter, is that included n the the survey?

How about a 711 woerker, i heard conveniecnce stores are hold up all the time!

Safe flying, be safe!

MisskittyKat

"Danica" is an IRL driver, not NASCAR. Give the girl some credit...

 

[avbug]

I would venture to guess that ag pilots and aerial firefighters probably have better odds of dying than living assuming even a 30 year career.

Statistics can mean anything you want to spin them to mean.

If I felt the "odds" were against me, I wouldn't do it, but I don't believe in "odds," or luck, and I've always felt that games of chance are for those who prefer fate to guide their lives, instead of intelligence.

I learned to spray from an old man who flew combat missions in Europe in his youth, sprayed all his life in all kinds of aircraft, and dield old and in peace in his bed, in his sleep. He didn't believe in the "odds" either.

Perhaps, much like voodoo, it's just those that believe in the statistics that become part of them.

A poster noted earlier that 100% of pilots die. This is true. How and where is only a trivial formality in the bigger question of statistics. We all die. Getting tied up in the details is pointless and serves to cloud the bigger issue. Why ask how a man dies, when the important question is how he has lived?

 

[check6]

Wouldn't pilots fit under the "taxi driver and chauffer" category as well? Except, we don't get stabbed for $20. My mistake.

 

[Almerick07]

On a differnet note, why do so many dang dentists kill themselves....ATC i can understand (dark room, radar scope, talking to people who are flying while youre held in confinement). But a dentist....maybe those stats are made up too, after all I am getting them from a movie (the whole 9 yards...greatness)

 

[PaulThomas]

I'm a little skeptical about the numbers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics claims there were 109 fatalities among pilots, 22 airline pilot fatalities and 87 commercial pilot fatalities.

I took a look at the NTSB database and here's what I found.

Part 121 fatal accidents in 2004, 2, with 3 fatalities
Part 129 (foreign carriers) fatal accidents in 2004; 0

that's not quite 22 dead airline pilots.

here's the rest:

Part 135: 21 fatal accidents
Part 133 (rotorcraft external load) 3 fatal accidents
part 137 (ag ops) 7 fatal accidents
part 125 1 fatal accidents.


that's 34 fatal accidents, those accidents had 22 pilot fatalities.

That's 36 fatalities in 121,125,129,133,135 and 137 operations.

That would mean that ther were 73 pilot fatalities in flight instruction, aerial photography, wildlife surveys, firefighting, corporate aviation and other commercial GA activities. Personally, I'm a little skeptical, particularly in light of how far off thier numbers are for airline pilot fatalities.

As a side note, only 3 of those fatal accidents (2 pilot fatalities) were in Alaska, so that doesn't have a very large effect on the national numbers.

They may have included military pilots too, but I doubt it.

 

[Vector4fun]

It hasn't been my experience that airline pilots die soon after retirement. My Dad's 67 and probably in better health than I am. Most all his buddies are doing fine as well. Ex-wives and T-34 ADs are a huge health risk though.

Actually, I think I knew more that killed themselves, or nearly so, screwing around in little airplanes while they were still working....