Unlike in the past, today we have the opportunity to select from a range of modes when travelling from one point to another. Depending on how fast or how comfortably you want to travel to your destination, you can choose the most suitable means of transport that you prefer. As far as safety is concerned, air travel has been found to be the safest and most reliable form of transportation, although many who are afraid of getting into planes will disagree. The main reason for this distrust is the way most media entities inform the public about the very few plane crashes that occur around the world. If you are such an individual who is need of some serious convincing as to just how safe travelling in a flying machine is, continue reading this article to educate yourself.
Dealing with monster weather
Unlike on the ground, the weather up in the sky can reach extreme levels when you least expect it, and a plane carrying several hundreds of passengers must be capable of handling these challenges successfully. These metal machines can even fly directly through thunderstorms, although they never really take the risk. They can get struck with intense lightning, but it will all just pass through the body without bringing harm to anyone onboard as it is not grounded to the earth. When in the sky, aircraft satellite communication systems serve the pilots by helping them keep contact with control towers and avoid mid-air collisions that can be catastrophic.
Useful tech
Billions of dollars are invested every year by governments and aircraft manufacturers to come up with better and more reliable technologies for air travel and over the years, their results have been quite impressive. The cockpit area is basically like a super computer that can perform a number of complex operations at the same time. Among the many technologies that make aerial transportation safer, the GPWS or the Ground Proximity Warning System alerts the pilot if the plane descends to a level that is dangerously close to the ground through a female voice that yells “pull up, pull up”. The hybrid aircraft tracking systems let the pilots monitor the nature of air traffic in the surrounding air space and avoid crashing into another flying vehicle by accident. TCAS or the Traffic and Collision Avoidance Systems supplement these systems and every commercial airplane is equipped with them.
Enough fuel
An airplane must always have the right amount of fuel before any flight to make it to the destination safely. This is mandatory in most cases and when reaching the landing port, there must be a minimum of 10% fuel left in the aircraft. Also, the landing procedure involves making a missed approach, holding for thirty minutes and then landing based on the instructions provided by the control tower. These standardized procedures help to avoid the possibility of mistakes and confusion in air travel.