Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Looking at Events

Taking a look at some of the events that have happened and how our brain looks at them, we can understand why most people automatically think driving is safer than flying. Let's look at the video hosted by Dr. Cheryl Olson: 
Now, looking at some of the major points in this video, let's examine them. First, September 11th. I can personally say that after September 11th, I have been more observant on an airline than I have in the past. Yet September 11th also made aviation safer. Following the events of that year, improvements were made to aircraft to improve the safety of the pilot and make it harder for them to be hijacked. Pilots were given weapons to carry on airplanes, and thousands of aircraft were fitted with new cockpit doors. Based on information provided in a release from the Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission, these cockpit doors are able to "Resist forcible intrusion by unauthorized persons and be capable of withstanding impacts of 300 Joules (221.3 foot-pounds) at the critical locations on the door, as well as a 250 pound (1113 Newtons) constant tensile load on the knob or handle, and Resist penetration by small arms fire and fragmentation devices.(11)" Rules were also changed to prevent the opening of cockpit doors during flight. Think about it, how many times have you see the pilot or co-pilot come out during the flight, or the cockpit door even open? This was done to make the cockpit much safer from any outside influences during flight.

Next, after the events, many people decided to drive instead of fly. This caused a greater number of people to be on the roads, causing a greater number of incidents. Dr. Olson's video reports that over 2100 additional deaths came from the increase in driving, which makes sense due to more cars on the road. Airlines are regulated, there are only so many airlines in the air at one time, unlike cars, where you could have hundreds of cars around you at any given moment, only inches from your vehicle.

Finally, looking at miles traveled versus flights, it is important to note that in cars, according to Olson's video, your danger is the same during all times of the trip. In aviation, the danger is greatest during the first few minutes of takeoff and landing. As a pilot, this makes sense to me, since takeoff and landing is generally the point where we exert the most forces on the engine, possible causing an engine failure to occur.

You know, looking at all of this, there's one simple solution to me to fix it all. How about a flying car?! :) 


7.Olson, Cheryl. "Judging Risk- Flying vs Driving" Youtube. Youtube, 5 Feb 2010. Web. 4 Oct. 2011.

                Dr. Olson's video proved to be beneficial to most of my blog posting. I was able to use her statistics on how the brain looks at flying and examine each of the points. I also picked out the fact on miles traveled versus flights and then examined the info provided based off myself being a pilot and knowing that the takeoff and landing can be a dangerous part of the flight, due to increased engine performance during this period of flight. In addition, I took the facts on the September 11th incident, and the elaborated on how safety has improved after the events of that day.
                The Youtube Video, "Judging Risk- Flying vs Driving" by Dr. Olson is one of the best I've seen so far. It provides several points to look at. The September  11th event and how our brain looks at it is one of the best references to safety of flying I've seen so far, since it gave a number that the number of deaths increased by 2100 after the events of that day. I was able to personally connect to that, providing my example of how I've personally been more observant on airplanes now than I have in the past when I flew.

8.Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission. COCKPIT  DOOR SECURITY. CARC. 1 Nov 2003. Web. 4 Oct. 2011. < http://carc.gov.jo/images/filemanager/052437Cockpit%20Door%20Security.pdf>

This document published by the Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission provided me with information how cockpit doors have been improved since September 11th. I was able to specifically state how the door safety have improved, mentioning items such as resisting forces such as human penetration or firearms that could be shot towards the door. I provided a specific quote from the article on what these forces are and what forces the doors can resist. I was then able to explain safety of doors, and provide a question for the reader to look at, being " how many times have you see the pilot or co-pilot come out during the flight, or the cockpit door even open?"
Thanks to the accurate info provided in the article, I believe a good representation of the situation was provided. Most people don't know how well the doors can resist outside forces, and the date provided in the article was able to provide something for them to examine and see just how strong the doors can now resist and outside force. I may be able to later connect this on another tab, talking about the safety features of airplanes compared to the safety features of cars and how they differ or are similar. This would probably go best under the "Worried Much?" tab since I could ease fears in that tab.

9."Flying Car." No date. Online image. Willvideoforfood. 4 Oct 2011. < http://willvideoforfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/6a00d8341c3faa53ef0154338f27e3970c-800wi.jpg>

The main point for including this photograph in my blog was to provide a humor to the reader. The image is a combination of a antique car, combined with wings, in an representation of something many of us have dreamed us for years and always wished we owned, a flying car! My saying that this is one way to combining the two to make get rid of all the safety problems was mainly sarcasm. Having flying cars would probably result in even more deaths, and problems for the aviation community since there would need to be more regulations provided to ensure a safe environment.
                The picture of the flying car in my opinion, is a good laugh for the reader .It lets them see what, like I said above, have all probably dreamed of having at one time or another. I know I would love a flying car! However, I can't imagine the cost, or problems this would pose to be even physically possible without many other people getting killed or injured in the process. I feel that the number of incidents would incredible increase, and where would you store the flying cars? Would airports become non-existent anymore, since we could just takeoff in our streets? 

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