That random dude at the bus stop taught me a wild stat about plane crashes

Was waiting for the 78 bus downtown last Tuesday and this guy next to me starts talking about aviation safety. He said your odds of dying in a plane crash are about 1 in 11 million, but your odds of dying on the drive to the airport are way higher. Never woulda looked that up myself but now I check my seatbelt every time I get in a car. Anyone else get random deep facts from strangers at bus stops?

3 comments

3 Comments

taraanderson28d ago

The_wyatt made me laugh with that Alaska bush plane comparison. I actually had a similar thing happen once at a laundromat where this older guy told me that most house fires start in the kitchen from leaving food unattended. So now I never walk away when I'm cooking bacon or anything else on the stove. Honestly those random fact drops from strangers stick with me way more than anything I read online because they come with a story attached.

the_wyatt28d ago

Yeah that 1 in 11 million stat gets thrown around a lot but it's one of those "technically true but meaningless" numbers. The thing is those stats lump together every kind of flying from a Cessna with one engine to a 747. If you're on a commercial flight in a first world country your odds are basically zero. But hop on some bush plane in Alaska with a pilot who hasn't slept in 20 hours? Different story. The bus stop guy probably just read a clickbait article and felt smart repeating it. Next time ask him about the microwave popcorn lung thing that's an even better icebreaker.

jenkins.reese28d ago

but here's the thing nobody talks about with those stats - they never factor in how much time you actually spend in the car vs the plane. like yeah the drive to the airport is statistically more dangerous but you're also doing it for like 20 minutes versus a 3 hour flight. your risk per minute on a plane is still way lower even with that drive included. also people forget that most plane crashes happen during takeoff and landing, so the middle part of your flight is basically the safest place you can be on earth. i read once that if you flew every single day for 10,000 years you'd still only have a 50/50 chance of dying in a crash. that's insane when you think about it.