How often do planes crash? How often do passenger planes crash? Rating of the safest airlines

Phobia

Flight phobia, its nature and essence is a very complex psychological issue, which is becoming more and more relevant with the development of air travel. In order not to overload anyone with “scientific” terminology, let’s say that from the point of view of psychology it belongs to the group of anxiety disorders. Its intensity can increase not only during the flight, but also during preparation for it - at the airport, during check-in for the flight, during boarding. Such fears are strongly associated with personal experience, and much less often - with real risks associated with them. Few people are afraid to drink hot coffee on board, although according to statistics, the risk of getting a serious burn is quite real.

But our psyche is not structured very rationally, and phobias of flying, as a rule, are associated with a whole set of fears of varying degrees of justification. It is worth mentioning: fear of heights and fear of flying over water, fear of darkness (flying at night) and the unknown, fear of an accident or deliberate actions (terrorists, hijackers), fear of closed spaces and fear of crowds.

All this is aggravated by forced inaction, which often lasts for long hours, significant restrictions on freedom of movement, all the safety requirements that we are forced to fulfill at the airport and on board, and almost complete dependence on other people (crew) and equipment. What’s even worse is that the average person has little idea of ​​what a normal flight is, when and what to be afraid of and what not to be afraid of. It gets really bad when the plane hits a zone of turbulence and begins to noticeably “shock”. At this point, panic grips all the passengers.

Of course, airlines around the world are carefully trying not to “inflate” the problem of flight phobia and, apparently, are doing their best to prevent serious research into this issue. How else can we explain that despite a real and fairly widespread problem, research on this subject is not very popular?

The most important work on this topic was carried out back in the 1980s, when researchers from Boeing showed that in the United States, 18.1% of the adult population suffers from air travel-related phobias, and if assessed during the flight, this number increases to 30. 7%. In short, every third person is afraid of flying. At the same time, approximately half of this number recognized their fear as a fact - but only 6% seriously believed that modern aircraft were unsafe. A more recent study from 1999 found that about half of people surveyed experience at least some anxiety attacks while flying.

So, there is fear. But how people react to it can be completely different. The usual way is to fly less. There are many people who avoid flying at all costs, and some celebrities who can afford it even plan their trips in advance so as not to use planes at all. But more often than not, people simply tolerate and endure all the psychosomatic effects associated with fear suppression, including trembling knees, excessive sweating, rapid heart rate and breathing, and often vomiting. Another group of people suppress their fears by using alcohol or drugs on board or before a flight, which, frankly speaking, only increases the danger of flying.

Most often, in order to show the groundlessness of the phobia of flying, they cite quite impressive statistics, which indicate that airplanes today are completely safe. But are the most convincing numbers even remotely capable of counteracting internal anxiety and fear? Even if the chances of something bad happening are one millionth of a percent, it will be enough: after all, fear whispers that this particular flight may be the one...

The most real thing about fear is fear itself. You need to realize this fact and understand that you are afraid not so much of the flight itself as of your own fear. But if it's any reassurance, let's find out the most common questions related to flying phobia.

What are the safest seats on a plane?

The easiest way is to say that there are no such places - or rather, all places are equally safe. In situations where an aircraft suffers serious damage that results in one or more people being injured or killed, the severity of those injuries depends on a huge number of factors—many of which cannot be taken into account without knowing the circumstances of the particular accident. Don't assume that passengers sitting closer to the front of the plane are better protected. Those who do not panic are better protected: there are several known cases when, after serious smoke in the interior, those who calmly and carefully left it, at the same time helping others, got off easier.

What troubles occur more often than others?

For every real aviation accident, there are dozens of “incidents” that do not result in any real danger. You may well be faced with the need to leave the cabin through the evacuation system. In such cases, do not panic for anything; often this is done only as a precautionary measure, not associated with an immediate danger to life. The same goes for oxygen masks, which can be ejected automatically or at the command of the crew.

And most importantly, how often do planes crash?

Again, if we consider any incident that leads to human casualties to be an accident, then this also includes cases of hijacking by bandits or terrorist acts. But even in this case, the answer is short: very rarely. Although it is worth noting that in the countries of Western Europe, the USA and Canada this figure is very low: they account for 2/3 of global passenger air traffic, and at the same time less than ¼ of all disasters.

Many people prefer to get to this or that region using an airliner, because traveling by air is much more convenient and faster than by train. According to statistics every 2-3 seconds a plane lands and takes off around the world. Should you give in to fear when you board an airplane? How often do planes crash? Such questions always plague passengers, especially those who rarely fly on an aircraft.

Everyone fears for their life, so it is not surprising why such questions arise. If you watch the news, which constantly talks about some kind of disaster, often related to air travel, then the desire to go somewhere immediately disappears. Of course, there is always danger. Even while staying at home, there is a risk of death, for example, from a gas leak. Thus, to fly or not to fly aircraft is a very controversial issue and here everyone decides for himself how best to act. In order to understand how many airliners crash, let's look at the statistics.

How many planes crash per year is a question that interests many people, even those who are not planning to fly. The following data can be provided:

1. Statistics show that about 10,000 airliners take off into the sky every day.
2. Approximately 4.5 billion people fly on airplanes – that’s more than half the world’s population.
3. Of these, about 1,000 people die in plane crashes.
4. In 100 years of passenger aviation, 150,000 people died.

This figure is several times less than the number of victims in road accidents per month. So, what is the safest way to travel? The answer is obvious. IN accident people they die much more often, so driving in cars is much more dangerous to life than flying in airplanes.

According to statistics, since 2009 there have been 107 plane crashes, killing 3,245 passengers.

How often do planes crash in Russia?

Unfortunately, our country occupies a leading position in the ranking of countries that have suffered greatest number aircraft accidents. This is due to the fact that Russia is the largest power in the world. If we take statistics from 2009, then the largest number of accidents involving airliners occurred in the Russian Federation - 38. 378 people died in them. Next comes America, where 11 incidents have occurred over the past 6 years. If we take into account the data for the entire existence of civil aviation, then the United States of America occupies first place.

• Russia (38 accidents);
• USA (11 for this period);
• Ukraine (7 in 6 years);
• Congo (6 over the same period);
• Germany (4 disasters in 2010).

Which planes crash most often?

If we talk about which planes crash most often, here we need to give a rating of the most dangerous airliners. So the list is:

1. Boeing 737. This passenger plane was recognized as the most dangerous, as several plane crashes occurred on it.
2. IL-76. A terrible disaster happened on this aircraft 13 years ago and claimed many lives.
3. Tu-154. There were also a lot of accidents on it.
4. Airbus A310. The last disaster was this year, which claimed more than 150 lives and only one girl managed to survive.
5. McDonnell-Douglas DC-9. It has not been produced for many years, but ready-made aircraft fly quite often. During its entire existence, only 44 people died on board this aircraft.

Compared to the years of the last 20th century, the number of plane crashes, alas, has increased. Planes crash for various reasons. This could be a malfunction of the airliner itself, weather conditions or human error. It is difficult to say unequivocally whether planes crash often. Compared to a road accident, it is much safer to travel on an aircraft. But in general, you shouldn’t be afraid of airplanes, because on the ground the risk of dying is much greater than in the air.

Today, air travel has become so popular that airplanes in terms of frequency of use for tourists are equal to cars and trains. However, air travel seems very dangerous and not entirely reliable to many. Is this really true, how do our ideas about the dangers of air travel compare with statistics and how often do planes crash?

Choosing transport for travel

During the period of long-awaited vacations and long holidays, many are faced with the problem of choosing to travel abroad to hot beaches or snowy ski resorts. And it is complex, because many factors need to be correlated, such as ease of movement, the price tag for the trip itself and, most importantly, safety. Let's look at statistical studies and find out how often planes crash and whether the scale of this is really as fatal as people think.

Are trains safer - misconception or not?

According to statistical studies, the safest mode of transportation for people is the train. The train has a slightly higher rating. Airplanes do not inspire confidence among the world's population at all. Only sixteen percent of respondents believe in their complete reliability. If we take cars into account, their safety rating is generally low, because they are initially considered very dangerous for driving over long distances.

However, in the struggle between various types Transport in terms of reliability is not so simple. Airplanes, according to many years of research by air crash experts and statistical studies, are rightfully recognized. However, people, even despite official scientific confirmation, still do not trust them. Why is this happening? Maybe the news that a plane has crashed somewhere really frightens tourists? Let's understand the situation.

The plane is not safe?!

Statistics though exact science, but the final result very much depends on the calculation method. When determining the level of aircraft safety, the number of tragic events per total number of flight kilometers is taken. It is this type of calculation that is mainly used by statisticians, and it is its results that are published in official sources.

The whole secret lies in the fact that most disasters occur during takeoffs and landings. On the way, plane crashes are much less common. But this method of calculation is very beneficial for transport companies, and they use it very often so as not to discourage tourists from choosing air travel for travel. Nevertheless, such an indicator as those killed in a plane crash (their number) during accidents during takeoff and landing is acquiring very large proportions.

If we take into account the calculation of tragic cases per total mileage of movement, then the most dangerous types of movement will be two types of movement - motorcycle and walking. One has only to look at the summary of tragic moments in any city and you can see that a lot of pedestrians die, even more than motorcyclists.

If you study other methods of statistical research, then the plane will give way to the train in terms of safety. For example, in terms of the number of passenger deaths per number of trips and speed of travel, air travel is the most unfavorable.

When considering other research methods, it turns out that trains are the best choice for travel. So it’s not without reason that tourists are in a fever from the mere news that a plane has crashed, and the trip railway rightfully has a safety advantage in people's minds.

Rating of the safest airlines

Be that as it may, you will still have to fly, since there are resorts that simply cannot be reached by any other type of transport, but you really want to. Despite the bad forecasts, negative reviews and gloomy opinions, our country is still not the weakest in terms of air travel safety. But the United States has been a leader in plane crashes for quite a long period of time. If we organize the ranking by countries that own aircraft, we can say that the top five include Finland, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the UAE. It is the companies of these five that are worth flying, and then no plane crash will be terrible. Russia, in this ranking, is in sixteenth place with the company Transaero.

Causes of plane crashes

Why do planes crash? Before choosing an airline, tourists first of all give preference to companies with the “youngest” modes of transport in terms of service life. However, this is not at all supported by statistical data. According to them, in Russia the company with the most unworn transport fleet is Aeroflot. Its aircraft are less than five years old. However, Finland, which occupies a leading position in flight safety and a small number of plane crashes, has had its aircraft in operation for more than nine years.

This fact indicates that an aircraft crash due to wear and tear and service life is unlikely. By choosing an airline based on the criterion of its small transport, the likelihood of a crash does not decrease at all. If we look at the statistics, we can see that a greater number of plane crashes occur due to the human factor, and there is no escape from this.

How to overcome your fear of flying, because there are situations when traveling by plane simply cannot be avoided. Psychologists give good advice on this matter. If fear is caused by any mental disorders, be it panic attacks or fear of a small enclosed space, then these are the problems that need to be solved.

However, in many cases, fear is caused by a lack of complete personal control over the situation and the safety of the flight. This must be accepted as inevitable, because any movement by transport depends little on us. Therefore, when traveling by air, it is recommended to simply relax and take your mind off bad thoughts by watching a movie on your tablet or listening to pleasant music. Never use alcohol to relieve stress. In fact, if it dulls the nervous state, it will only be for a short time, and then the problem will only get worse. The fear of flying needs to be addressed first of all with yourself. There is no need to simply get on your nerves, taking into account the information from news channels about how often planes crash, but you just need to calm down and try to take control of your emotions.

Which planes have the most accidents?

If we look at global statistics, Boeing can be considered the most unreliable, the second in the number of crashes is An, and the IL is in third place. If we turn to Russian research, we can see that the most “falling” in our country will be “An”. Why do planes crash? In 2005 alone, as many as nine cars of this brand crashed in Russia. In the world, they account for nineteen percent of all disasters.

The causes of plane crashes in Russia are explained by journalists in one key - the outdated transport fleet of domestic companies. Is this really true and how often do planes crash for this reason?

Causes of Russian plane crashes

In general, the aging of air transport is expressed not in the number of years that have passed since its production, but in the sum of hours flown and overall technical condition. According to statistics, Russia has aircraft dating back to Soviet times, and their percentage is much higher than foreign-made units. However, you should not look at age. Compared with foreign courts domestic ones flew much fewer hours, and Soviet production quality was one of the best in the world.

For what reason then does Russia purchase foreign aircraft for a lot of money when it has its own quite reliable aircraft? An example is the Tu aircraft. They have excellent flight safety statistics, and pilots consider them to be the most convenient in terms of technical design.

One of the reasons is the fact that Tu aircraft are very expensive in terms of the amount of fuel they consume. And since air travel has long turned into separate species business, company directors, in pursuit of reducing the cost of servicing their fleet of cars, give preference to foreign airliners, which are much more economical than their Russian counterparts.

Another reason is the decline of aircraft. The technologies for their production are significantly outdated, investments in aircraft factories are not being carried out. Therefore, our country cannot compete with more advanced foreign units.

How to save the situation?

In Russia, in order to stabilize the situation with the aircraft production market, the President signed a Decree on the creation of the United Aircraft Corporation. Moreover, investments in aircraft factories amounting to ten billion dollars were planned. This happened back in 2006. Currently the situation has not improved at all. The process of forming the corporation was greatly slowed down and, according to journalists, the purpose of its creation was not to study the competitor market, but to unite all the assets of Russian airlines in one place.

Nevertheless, there are positive developments. The Ilyushin Finance company purchased Il and Tu aircraft from Russia. The Tashkent production association has concluded an agreement with the St. Petersburg airline for the supply of Il aircraft to Russia, most of which will be Russian-built.

What you need to know about a plane crash?

No one is safe from an aircraft crash. However, if you have the necessary information about what happens when a plane crashes, you have a chance of surviving the crash. In the nineties, there was an accident with the B-707 airliner. The death toll in the plane crash numbered in the hundreds. However, five passengers used the information from the flight attendant's instructions and survived.

In some cases, there is a chance to be saved if you have necessary knowledge. They are not as useless as they seem at first glance. Knowing what happens when a plane crashes, you can apply many effective methods for your own safety.

The main ways to protect yourself, as the statistics of plane crashes show us, is to follow safety precautions. First of all, it is necessary, if possible, to remain in shoes and clothing. This will provide protection in case of fire. Remove all foreign objects from your clothing pockets and fasten your seat belt tightly. It is allowed to be removed only after a special command from the flight attendant.

Immediately before an accident, if possible, you need to take a protective position - you need to bend as low as possible and clasp your hands very tightly under your knees. The head should be placed on them, and if this cannot be done, then lower it as far as possible. Your feet should rest as firmly as possible on the floor. This technique, and it is fully proven by the statistics of plane crashes, often saves the lives of passengers in a plane crash.

Finally

As you can see, flying is not such a scary thing. The main thing is to use tickets for flights only from time-tested airlines that have had a small number of accidents, and also to comply with the safety requirements for aircraft passengers, so that later experts do not have to study the crashing plane on which you flew to rest in a warm country. Safe flights and successful landings and takeoffs!

Over the past ten years (2009-2018), 10 major disasters related to our country have occurred. This sample included planes of Russian airlines that crashed abroad. Foreign aircraft that crashed in Russia were also taken into account.

According to Wikipedia, the cumulative death toll was 750 people. All these crashes were widely covered in the media, leaving a heavy mark on everyone’s heart. Russian citizen. In most cases, the investigation into the causes of the tragedies has already been completed, but several accidents are still ongoing investigative actions and examination of evidence.

List of the largest air disasters over 10 years:

• death of the presidential aircraft TU-154M near Smolensk (2010);
• Tu-134 crash near Petrozavodsk (2011);
• crash of the Yak-42D plane near Yaroslavl (2011);
• ATR-72 plane crash near Tyumen (2012);
• Boeing-737 crash in Kazan (2013);
• Airbus A321 crash over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt (2015);
• Boeing-737 crash in Rostov-on-Don (2016);
• Tu-154 crash near Sochi (2016);
• the death of an An-148 in the Moscow region (2018);
• An-26 crash near the Khmeimim base in Syria (2018).

Plane crashes of 2010-2013

The crash of the presidential airliner near Smolensk

In a plane crash near Smolensk, which occurred on April 10, 2010, the President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, representatives of the country's leadership, the armed forces and public organizations, famous religious figures, members of Parliament. They all flew to Russia to honor the memory of the victims of the Katyn massacre.

The presidential plane crashed while landing in difficult weather conditions. The accident killed 96 people - this is a record number in the statistics of all disasters in which top officials of states died.

The investigation of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) lasted almost a year. In January 2011, the main reasons leading to the tragedy were announced:

• aircraft landing under weather conditions below the minimum permissible values;
• the airliner going beyond the minimum descent altitude while simultaneously exceeding speed;
• psychological pressure on the crew from the Polish leadership;
• pilots ignoring warning systems about dangerous proximity to the ground.
• insufficient training of the crew and, in particular, the commander for landing in difficult weather conditions.

The Polish side did not agree with all the arguments of the IAC, so in July 2011 it initiated its own investigation, but its results were soon annulled. According to a re-inspection launched in 2016, the Polish commission named the cause of the disaster as the explosion of the plane’s wing and the deliberate misleading of pilots by air traffic controllers at the Smolensk airfield. Russia categorically rejected these accusations.

Disaster near Petrozavodsk

On June 20, 2011, the Tu-134 airliner of RusAir airlines followed the Moscow-Petrozavodsk route. During the landing approach in poor visibility conditions, the plane hit trees, collided with the ground and caught fire. At the time of the disaster, 44 people died, three later died in hospital, five were saved.

The main reason for the crash was the uncoordinated actions of the crew and outdated aircraft equipment that controlled the landing approach. This tragedy is similar in circumstances to the disaster near Smolensk.

Aviation experts say that the largest number of accidents occur during takeoff or landing of aircraft. Just during takeoff on September 7, 2011, the Yak-42D airliner crashed, carrying out a charter flight from Yaroslavl to Minsk with the Lokomotiv hockey team on board. Unable to gain altitude, the aircraft, after a few seconds of flight, touched a radio beacon and crashed into the bank of the Tunoshonka River.

Plane crash in Yaroslavl

44 people died: almost the entire main team of the Lokomotiv team, its coaching staff and staff, as well as 8 crew members. Aviation equipment maintenance engineer Alexander Sizov managed to survive. Based on the results of the investigation, it was established that the tragedy was caused by uncoordinated actions of the crew during the takeoff run and takeoff of the aircraft.

A UTair airline ATR-72 crashed on April 2, 2012 near the village of Gorkovka near Tyumen. He was heading to Surgut, but managed to stay in the air for less than a minute. 33 people died, 10 were saved.

Towards development emergency situation on board was caused by icing of the aircraft hull, which was not eliminated during preparation for the flight. As a result of deterioration in aerodynamic characteristics, the airliner went into stall mode, which the crew did not notice in time.

Boeing-737 crash in Kazan

In 2013, the worst air disaster in Russia was the crash of a Boeing 737 during landing at Kazan airport. The plane belonged to Tatarstan Airlines, there were 50 people on board - all of them died. Among the factors that led to the unfavorable development of the air incident, the IAC named insufficient flight training of the crew, including for flying a Boeing 737, improper operation of navigation equipment, and a formal approach to testing the knowledge of pilots in the airline.

Plane crashes of 2015-2018

October 31, 2015 became a black day in the history of Russian aviation, when the largest disaster in terms of the number of victims occurred in national history. On the Airbus A321 airliner of the Kogalymavia company, tourists were returning home after a vacation in sunny Egypt. The takeoff from the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh took place as usual, but after 23 minutes the plane stopped communicating. Its wreckage was discovered on the Sinai Peninsula. All 224 people on board, including 25 children, were killed.

Tragedy in the Sinai Peninsula

The destruction of the plane in the air was the result of a terrorist attack - a bomb was planted in the tail section. ISIS militants claimed responsibility. On November 16, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended air traffic with Egypt.

As a result of an unsuccessful approach, a FlyDubai airline plane crashed at Rostov-on-Don airport on the night of March 19, 2016. 62 people died, no one managed to survive. Preliminary investigation discovered errors in the actions of the crew, which led to a sharp loss of altitude and a collision of the aircraft with the ground. The final report of the IAC has not yet been published.

Search operation in the Black Sea after the crash of the Tu-154

Shortly before the new year 2017, another tragedy occurred in the air. On December 25, 2016, the Tu-154 airliner of the Russian Ministry of Defense landed in Sochi to refuel en route to the Syrian city of Latakia. After leaving the airport, he stayed in the air for just over a minute and then crashed into the Black Sea. On board were artists and leaders of the Alexandrov Academic Ensemble, 9 journalists from federal channels, and public figure Elizaveta Glinka. The investigation into the crash has been extended until March 2019; according to unconfirmed information, its cause was the loss of spatial orientation by the aircraft commander.

Saratov Airlines plane

The year 2018 was marked by two major air accidents. In February 2018, a Saratov Airlines plane crashed in the Moscow region, killing 71 people. About a month later - on March 6 - an An-26 military plane crashed near the Khmeimim base. The victims of the tragedy were 39 people, of which 33 passengers were servicemen of the Russian army. These two accidents are under investigation and the results will be published later.

Reliability of Russian airlines

Based on 20 years of statistical data and comprehensive assessment Based on other criteria, the authoritative European Aviation Safety Agency compiled a rating of the most reliable air carriers in Russia. It included 3 major airlines:

• "Ural Airlines";
• S7 Airlines;
• Aeroflot.

The undisputed leader is Ural Airlines. Over its twenty-year history, the company has not had a single major incident with casualties or injuries.

The carrier S7 Airlines, previously called Sibir, also has good statistics. There are 3 major accidents in its history:

• the crash of the Tel Aviv-Novosibirsk flight in October 2001, which was shot down during a Ukrainian air defense exercise, killing 78 people;
• a terrorist attack on board a Tu-154B2 aircraft flying from Moscow to Sochi on August 24, 2004, killed 51 people;
• crash of the A-310 plane on July 9, 2006 in Irkutsk, which led to the death of 125 people.

Aeroflot airline has existed since the times of the USSR, for a total of almost 100 years. During this time, she experienced many incidents and disasters. However, in modern history Russian aviation has a minimal number of accidents. Last major disaster dated October 25, 2000, when an Il-18D cargo and passenger plane crashed at Batumi airport while landing. On board there were military personnel heading to 12 military base Groups Russian troops in Transcaucasia, and members of their families, including 7 children. A total of 84 people died. The tragedy was caused by navigation errors by the crew, disruptions in the work of the dispatcher, and a malfunction of ground radio equipment.

Causes of plane crashes in Russia

To summarize, we can identify several reasons why planes most often crash in Russia:

• insufficient level of training of crew members;
• deterioration of the fleet of airliners used in civil aviation;
• bad Maintenance airplanes;
• Act of terrorism.

The situation with plane crashes in Russia has hardly changed in 10 years. Our country still remains among the leaders in the number of plane crashes. Let's hope that domestic airlines will draw the right conclusions from the statistics and begin to improve the quality of flight training of crews and technical safety airplanes.