You are not alone. Many people are nervous
to fly, especially on smaller planes. Is this fear justified?
Certainly it seems as though there is a plane crash in the
news every other day.
However, charter flights are highly regulated
by the FAA. Not only is the plane thoroughly checked out,
but the pilot, maintenance, maintenance personnel and even
the operational procedures themselves are verified.
Click here
for details on our FAA Part 135 Charter License.
As a result, charter flights enjoyed a substantially
better safety record than general aviation. We can use the
latest NTSB accident statistics to put this safety record
in perspective.
Let's assume you fly on a charter flight from
Santa Barbara to San Francisco every weekday, all month long,
all year. That would be 260 flights up, and 260 flights back,
every year. What are the odds of having an accident if you
flew that much? Not much, according to the NTSB numbers. In
fact it would take more than 40 years of flying to be involved
in an accident. And, even then, your chances of surviving
the accident would be greater than 80%.
So statistically, flying by charter is not
inherently unsafe. But simply knowing that doesn't always
calm the nervous flyer. The best antidote for fear is understanding.
A great reference for the nervous flyer
is www.fearofflying.com.
This free Web site goes into detail
about the kinds of things that make passengers worry, such
as:
- What if the plane hits an air pocket?
- Where does turbulence come from and how much turbulence can the plane withstand?
- Can a plane glide if the engines quit?
- Why does the takeoff feel so scary?
- How planes fly
Finally, Santa Barbara Charter will be happy
to schedule a pre-flight orientation session. In this session
we will go over the entire plane and discuss what to expect
during the flight. We start outside and work our way into
the cockpit.
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