Airplane Safety, by the Numbers
Air travel and safety Every year, millions of people step onto a plane. Usually things go off without a hitch, but accidents do happen. So people are right to wonder about safety. So, really, how safe is it to fly? People are curious about safety! This is a no-brainer. Of course everyone wants to be safe! We can see public interest show up in google searches for "airline safety." It's no surprise it peaks as the summer travel season ramps up. It's strangely low during the winter holiday travel season. Maybe everyone is too busy stressing about holidays instead? The public's interest in airline safety waxes and wanes. This graph shows a spikiness besides just the seasonal pattern. Probably what's happening is that occasional media sensations cause a surge in public interest. Overall, the trend over the past 15 years has been down. That means fewer people are concerned are air safety now than before. There's good reason for that to happen! Let's see what...