Traveling by plane is getting safer each year. While the number of travelers flying out of airports in Texas and beyond increases, the number of accidents, injuries and fatalities continues to decline. However, a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board believes that even one plane crash is too many, and that it is past time to replace old methods with new technology.
Outdated practices place airplanes at risk of crashing. One example is the black box — the flight data recorder. Although incredible technological advances have been made, locating the black box after an airline crash depends on decades-old guesswork. This, of course, is assuming the accident site is located. For example, the crash site of Egypt Air Flight 84 — downed in the Mediterranean earlier this year — has not yet been found.
The crash site and the information contained in the flight data recorder are crucial to understanding the reasons why a plane crashes and for making vital adjustments to prevent future crashes under similar circumstances. The NTSB is considering such devices as deployable recorders that are ejected from the plane prior to the crash. Another innovation is live-streaming data collection that would give flight controllers more accurate information about the condition of the plane and its location if it should go down.
This past year 27 million planes took off from airports in Texas and around the world. Of those departures, only 28 planes crashed. Nevertheless, the NTSB and the families of those who died or were injured in those crashes feel it is too many. Those who suffered injury or the loss of a loved one in a plane crash, and suspect the accident was caused by pilot error or poorly maintained airplanes may benefit from discussing their situation with an attorney.
Source: fortune.com, “How Airlines Can Make Your Next Flight Even Safer“, Mark Rosenker, Dec. 8, 2016
