While aviation experts have said crashes and hazardous emergencies are “extremely rare” and the nonprofit National Safety Council has said the odds of dying in a passenger aircraft within the United States are too small to calculate, two aviation-related incidents from this week have brought the question of safety aboard an aircraft back into the public consciousness.
On Friday, an Alaska Airlines plane made a dramatic emergency landing after a piece of the Boeing 737 Max 9’s wall blew out midair. Earlier in the week, a Japan Airlines jet caught fire after colliding with a coast guard plane at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, killing five coast guard crew members.
All 171 passengers and six crew members on the Alaska Airlines flight as well as the 367 passengers and 12 crew members on the Japan Airlines jet survived the incidents. Flight safety experts attributed the success of the Alaska Airlines emergency landing and the Japan Airlines evacuation to the crews’ strict guidance and passengers’ compliance.
Commercial air travel is one of the safest methods of transportation, according to the National Safety Council, and although danger is rare, it does happen. When disaster strikes, being prepared by wearing natural fibers rather than synthetic in the event of a fire, or simply listening to the preflight safety briefing, so you know how to don an oxygen mask, can save lives.
Here’s what experts recommend to stay safe in an air accident or incident:
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