Small Airplanes

I got my pilot's certificate a few years ago allowing me to fly a small airplane. An acquaintance of one of our daughters saw the small airplane I was storing for a friend and commented, “That's small. Looks dangerous.”

Not really. Pilots receive a lot of training and practical experience before they are set loose on their own, unlike most of us who drive cars. Cars are small and really dangerous. Every year in the U.S. nearly 40,000 people are killed in traffic accidents, almost half involve alcohol. For some reason if a small airplane has an off-field landing (pilots don't like the word 'crash') the news is all over it. Now it's true that most local news reports traffic fatalities, they are just not reported nationally as are airplane misadventures.

Unlike cars, airplanes are required to be inspected by a certified airplane mechanic every twelve months in order to renew it's Airworthiness Certificate. This inspection checks to see that every inch of the airplane complies with FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Airworthiness requirements for this particular type of airplane. If the airplane flunks any part of the inspection it is declared not airworthy and cannot be flown until the problem is corrected by a certified mechanic and reinspected. Additionally, pilots are required to take a check ride, essentially a practical exam, with an FAA certified inspector every two years to insure that they are still safe pilots. Pilots are also required to take a physical exam every three to four years, depending on their age. If they fail that, they are not allowed to fly until the problem is resolved.

Pilots who fly commercially, such as for the airlines, are subject to even more training and scrutiny as are the airplanes they fly.

At this point allow me digress for a moment to dispel the notion that flying an airplane is hard. It's not. Anybody of average intelligence and health can learn. If you do, the one thing I can promise you is when on your first solo you look over at that right seat and see nobody there, you will have a life changing experience.

So, when my daughter's friend commented on the safety of that small airplane, I couldn't help thinking of his 60 mile drive here, mere feet from another car whose driver may be drunk, texting, or day dreaming.