"Airplanes cover ground much more quickly than cars" *cries in Cessna 150*

The part that everyone forgets is that you then need to get in a car after you get to your airport destination, there is no escaping!

I've always said it's roughly as safe per hour as riding a motorcycle (which is accurate), however, on a motorcycle, you have to worry more about someone ELSE killing you, while in a plane, you mostly just have to worry about yourself and making good decisions.

To be honest as much as I'd like to agree with the conclusion of this video, many of the estimations were highly questionable. Especially the last one, no one can perfectly predict the safety of the pilots they fly with. And pilot error is obviously the biggest factor affecting flight safety.

Having read so many articles and watched several videos like this, I think they completely miss the point. I don’t drive for the fun of it, at least not regularly. I drive because I have to get to work, or get to the store, or get to other places that I’m required to be. Driving is mandatory, and I rarely enjoy it. In contrast, I fly only for fun. I know it’s dangerous. We all know it’s dangerous. That’s why we spend so much time and effort learning and practicing what to do in emergencies. We do what we can to mitigate risk, and accept what risk remains, because we love flying and have judged the risks to be worth the rewards. If I had the choice, I would much rather be killed by my own mistake while doing something I love than killed by some random idiot while doing something I had little choice in.

Thanks for this. I think all your videos are amazing. As a family man who's about to start his lifelong dream of getting my private license it puts things nicely into perspective.

I actually like this type of intro where you're talking over the music, which will save my time, and it streamlines the video down while giving it a nice professional feel

And when was the last time you saw two pilots standing at a crash scene exchanging insurance information?

its all about experience, training, and equipment. ERAU flies strictly GA aircraft and has flown well over a million flight hours in the past 10 years with zero fatal accidents or serious injuries (Holy crap). On the other side of the spectrum, I've gone to flight schools with poorly trained instructors or pilots, who fly horribly out of shape aircraft

I would consider seat time the standard metric to use in these comparisons. You aren't very likely to be killed by a plane or car if you're not riding in it.

my wife just had back surgery from an auto accident. Rear ended while sitting at a stop light. You should do a chart on injuries that needed medical attention driving vrs plane. Should be mile per mile. 400 mile plane flight vrs 500 mile auto trip or what ever it is. You can add driving miles getting to and from your plane and what ever those odds of driving are included in with the flying risk. If you die in a plane or car that is bad but the biggest risk to me would be minor to serious injury's. without seeing any data I would bet driving on the roads are much more dangerous than flying if you remove fatalities from the equation. I hear of someone getting hurt in a car accident almost daily but not planes. I believe if you include injuries and deaths on both driving and flying ga flying would still be safer. Fantastic videos Keep up the good work.

If you are going to eliminate certain causes of GA accidents, you need to do the same for autos. For example, what if you eliminated driving with a teenager, driving without a seatbelt, driving while intoxicated and driving after midnight? These are reasonable variables that can be controlled and I suspect are the cause of the majority of all fatal car accidents.

Fantastic Video keep up the good work!

Keep up the good work Nick!

I also fly a Piper Cherokee 140! I’m obsessed with safety with everything, but especially when it comes to flying

Great video, I'm going to use this to show a few of my friends that flying isn't as bad as they think. I have this one friend who is so scared of flying, and I'm sure this will reassure them. True fact that you are more likely to die in a car on the way to the airport or to your airfield than you are to die In a plane. I know I don't have to say this, since I know you take the proper precautions, and perform all safety checks, and you are responsible, but stay safe. Can't wait for the next one.

This is my favorite of your videos. Thanks for making it. I used it as a model for a discussion on aviation safety in the first class I give for students seeking a PPL at the ground school I teach at.

so the lesson is: if you don't get the results you seek, you have not done enough calculations.

Nicely done and in a format everyone can relate to.

Such a well done video 👏🏻

Very interesting video and statistics. I heard once on the news that there's on average 800 boating fatalities per year in the USA alone and yet most people being afraid of flying might not think twice about going boating or jet skiing.

Excellent breakdown and info.

It's still best to be honest with your family and passengers. To us it's worth it, but let others make their own decision based on facts not the lie that the drive to the airport is the most dangerous part of the flight.Great video, I'm glad to see the topic addressed.

Your intros are awesome!

Nice video. The source of risks at the end is key here. Pilots can control many, but not all, of the risks. In cars, it's a free for all with unsafe drivers all around you.

cool video as always. can you do a video on sailplanes? I'm gonna solo soon in a Schweizer 2-33a N2028T.

Someone else may have said this but here goes. If you choose to drive safely, during good weather or with excellent drivers, and in modern cars, the equation might work the other direction.

Excellent thanks. I'm just getting back into flying again after a long break. I was watching thinking but yea, what if I was a very cautious VFR pilot when it comes to not taking VMC risks and extremely careful with fuel management, I'd like to see the statistics if you took out those 2 factors and you answered just after I was thinking it. Very good video, nice one

Great Video. There are a lot of factors. Pilot experience, IFR vs VFR, fixed or retractable. I think we all wish the record was better. Seems about 380 fatal accidents per year has been pretty consistent. General aviation is about as safe as riding a motorcycle statistically.

Nice video. It's real hard to compare different activities. Errors flying and driving contribute to accidents in both activities.

Another great video, my aviation brother! I love how you put the statistics into some perspective. Of course the media will ignore all rational analyses and continue to sensationalize any aircraft mishap; it just draws the crowds.

I like your interpretation on danger based on energy, but something even better is to make your own unit "x" in which *x=E • possibility of release*

I'm 35 and my dad started in aviation when I was 4 or 5. I can remember going to the airport at 5. In that time (30 yrs) I haven't seen 1 plane have an incident. I got my drivers license at 15 and in that amount of time (20 yrs) I can't count the auto accidents I've seen with my own eyes. Yes I've seen planes that have crashed; a few belly landings and a couple of crop dusters catch wires but not the actual incident like autos.

I think the biggest thing you pointed out is toward the end of the video and that has to do with just how many variables there are that can be (or not be) mitigated depending on the choices of the pilot. Just looking the numbers: 5% are Aerobatic accidents 9% are VFR continued into IMC 5% are unsafe acts (which to the FAA are basically egregiously stupid things, not normal flying) 18% are insufficient terrain clearance enroute (usually called controlled flight into terrain) 14% are loss of control in adverse weather That means 51% of GA fatalities are not just avoidable, but easily avoidable. Almost all controlled flight into terrain happens in mountainous areas in IMC with terrain obscured. That's an easy situation to simply avoid. You don't have to fly aerobatics at all. You should never continue VFR into IMC no matter what happens, if for nothing else than it's illegal to do so. And simply planning properly and leaving yourself wide margins to avoid adverse weather again raises your odds greatly. None of those things are hard to do as a pilot to mitigate risk. They are actually very easy to do. Also, location plays a large part in the overall risks. Here's a number for you. 1 out of every 7 GA fatalities happen in Alaska. The reasons are fairly obvious (a lot of scud running and terrain issues there). Want to cut your risks by 1/7th without even trying? Don't fly in Alaska. Thirdly, the fatalities per hour stat so often cited does not take into account that many accidents have multiple fatalities. Sometimes 10-12 when a King Air or Biz Jet goes down (rare) and often 4-6 when a twin or 6 seater goes down. So the risks that your specific airplane will have a fatal accident are actually lower than it appears. This is why fatal accidents (i.e. individual airplanes) are a better number to use vs. total fatalities in all those accidents. I could keep giving examples but the point is that your average VFR daytime flight is actually much safer than the overall stats seem to suggest.

Most of my flying allows me to avoid driving through LA on some very congested, often very fast moving traffic. I've dodged ladders (more than once), other cars sliding across the road, tires, furniture, and other debris. I've even had to maneuver around people . . . on the freeway . . . I've had so many close call moments that I've lost count. But, for example, at 8500 feet doing VFR corridor over LA on my way to Van Nuys, there are no ladders, no cars, no debris, and certainly no people in the way. It's so relaxing. I feel so much safer in the air in a 1963 Cessna 205 than I do in my brand new car on the freeway.

In the "Killing zone. how and why pilots die" author Paul Craig offers very compelling and thorough statics showing that GA flying is 10.8 times more dangerous than the car driving...

I believe this was hinted to in an earlier comment. I generally tell people that ask me what risks there are in flying my small plane, that it is about the same as riding motorcycles. They both have higher accident and injury/death rates than driving... and they're both a lot of fun.

I often tell people that GA aircraft are similar in risk to that of motorcycles. The difference is, on a motorcycle, while the primary risk is going to be your own behavior in traffic (if you ride safely) there's also a large risk factor related to the behaviors of other drivers. With GA, your risk is going to primarily be a function of your own behaviors. Hence the adage, "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots."

Very insteresting and well realized !

Just finished Paul Craigs book "The Killing Zone" He came to the conclusion that GA is more dangerous than driving but comercial flying was safer.

Key, the quality of the pilot. The skill of the pilot. I agree that good pilots are many; it is the few who make the skies dangerous.

you applied factors to the aircraft that should be applied to cars too. how many car accidents are caused by driver error?

Great vid and stats. Enjoyed. Very informative & objective. Liked & sub'd ur channel.

i'm still not sure which is safer after having watched this video. should i multiply by 0.3 or divide by turboprop...

Very interesting presentation. If the pilot is well trained and concerned for the overall well being of the occupant of the front left seat, then I'm more than willing to fly with them anytime.

I have taken a tester session for flying. But it's common sense if your car dies on the highway you just pull to the side. In a plane 5kms in the air as you don't have that option

Fuel question: Can you only fuel your aircraft enough to get to your location plus some or how does fueling work?

I worked in line service at a small municipal airport in Ks in the '80s. It was an education as to the differences in the attitudes of pilots whom I considered would be competent across the board. There were some who would rarely do a preflight, one, a physician who jumped in his twin Cessna like he would his car to to across town. I rode with one or two who acted more like cowboys than serious pilots. This diverse situation was a bit unsettling.

I guess there’s other things to consider as well. Aircraft accidents would tend to have more fatalities than car accidents. Do aircraft accidents happen more in the take off and landing phases of flight?

Q: do the GA numbers include gliders? (...or other hobbyist contraptions?)

In Chicago the press reports a GA crash almost weekly. They always say its being investigated. It takes months or a year before the final NTSB report is announced... unless a celebrity is involved, of course. We almost never hear why it happened. That's why the occasionally flying public is fearful of man and machine. We've lost too many local broadcasters who were described as "very experienced" GA pilots. I always tell my family to drive FAST (to outrun the other guy). Drive safe is assumed. A wonderful video, discussion provoking as always.

Should I have anxiety over the hypothetical happening of the elevators suddenly pitching downwards, sending us into inevitable death? I feared this when I flew a DHC back in June; smaller, propellerd aircraft scare me.

Well done!

What are the intro and outro songs?

Great video, thanks for making it. This is off topic, but can you share with us how you made the video. I would love to use this method of explaining at work. Thanks so much and keep up the good work. I will be happy to be a patreon for your videos. Abed (PPL in Canada and own a cessna 150).

I would like to know were in the FAR's (Federal Aviation Regulations) it says that the FAA issues a Pilot License. I looked on mine and I had one for over 42 years now and I can't find the word license on it! But it does say certificate! Flying is not all that hard, anybody can learn too! The hard part is gaining enough experience to know when to say no. Accidents happen because of a chain of events that by themselves would be a none issue, but together, the become a trap and sometimes it ends badly!

Nice video. The numbers can vary but that doesn't really matter. The point is well made as it concludes on a note of who is PIC. Additionally, as mentioned, living life well should be an acceptable set of calculated risks.

when filling up a plane, how much does it cost, per gal/l is it cheaper than petrol or diesel, i think flying is safer, you have more time to react and you not only have left and right like a car but also up and down . great vid

hmm. That does put in perspective some issues. I am currently a registered student of 'light sport aircraft', where locally there's been a major push to try and improve safety, because in this category fatalities in this country seem to be about 6.8 per 100,000 hours. Now, the LSA category covers everything from paragliders, to small two seat aircraft that also qualify for being registered as a 'general aviation' aircraft, but it still does seem a little questionable...

I like how the cover photo of this video says 100,000,000 hours of driving which is 11,415.52 years

You will probably survive a crash in an aircraft (excluding collisions) since you will most of the time come to a controlled landing (engine out/out of fuel) but if you have a crash on the motorway/freeway you will instantly come to a stop and possibly die. Also safety varies depending on the traffic or lack there of (both in air and on ground)

Instant like as always. I would love to support you on patreon, but I don't have enough money to do that. Keep up your work.

Very nice

There is probably no Fly rage. where there are so many auto accidents over road rage. this would have to be a factor. Thanks Nick. Back in 2000 when I was taking some refresher time. I was taxiing on Alpha at Norwood KOWD heading for 35. A student pilots doing solo work came out of the South ramp so fast the Ground Controller yelled at him to stop and wait for his instructor to move the plane.

Finally a real comparisons. So sick of the over simplified statistics of how safe flying is! well done

I’m almost 16 and I have 14 hours and tbh I’m scared of doing my first solo

John and Martha King say that GA has a similar safety record as riding motorcycles. I've been flying since 1968. I've also owned two motorcycles when I was a kid. I've seen deaths on motorcycles and in airplanes. At least with airplanes, most of the control is in the hands of of the pilot. With motocycles, you can't predict when the other car is going to cut you off at the last second. I'm glad you continue to make very informative videos. We need them. Over 20 years ago there were 800k licensed pilots. Today there are only about 550K. If this trend continues, we will all be flying drones.

Hi Nick, another great video, thank you. I'm writing this tonight before my flight to Tampa tomorrow with my entire family, and I mean everyone. If anything happens there's nobody left in my estate. In light of what happened in FFL this morning, we could have been there, as we stay in Delray often flying through FFL. It's not the flying I'm concerned these days as much as the nut jobs surrounding us. Be safe people.

My problem with this (common) type of analysis is that it groups all GA flights into one category. There are many types of GA flights. Some include flights for emergency purposes, business purposes, to visit family/friends on a scheduled visit and a need to get back in time to go to work , etc. This type of flight often ends up with pressure to get there even when there are weather issues, lack of proficiency on the pilot’s part, or even minor airplane issues. Many of the fatal accidents result at least partially from these issues. On the other hand, there are a lot of people like me who basically fly for fun and don’t fly if there are any issues with the plane, or the weather is bad, or I’m not feeling proficient. Yes, something can always go wrong but those of us who are careful to stay within our limits, stay proficient, and always strive to improve should be less likely to have an accident. Unfortunately, current data doesn’t seem to allow us to get an objective evaluation of that section of the pilot community.

FWIW - Blue sky driving shows an uptick in accidents (CDL-A experience). More poorly qualified drivers and many paying less attention on a 'nice' day. Despite the inherent danger level mentioned, flying give you more control over 'acceptable risk' than driving, even when defensive driving is practiced.

Would also be interesting to compare the numbers of fatal car accidents in cities or rural areas.

The biggest variable is like you said....The competency of the pilot and how well the plane is maintained. There is a huge difference between a truly professional pilot who flies for a living and a poorly trained new private pilot. The same is true for the mechanical reliability of the aircraft . You should never fly with a new poorly trained private pilot in an airplane that he built himself (without having the required skills to build a plane). It would be worse than riding as a passenger on the back of a motorcycle driven by a 16 yr old boy who got his license an hour ago. Even with all of the regulations, there are a lot of people flying who should never be a pilot.

Well i wasn't scared before this but after this well it really hasn't changed my mind :P

The most important difference imho is that when you are flying your own plane, its your own fault if you crash the thing. Its pretty rare for another plane to crash into you unless something goes seriously wrong. For cars you might be screwed up from some drunk guy pushing you off the road.

Hey man! I realize you use the carbenaro Piper. I'd recommend the A2A Piper. It's more like the warrior and is better and it's more realistic. :)

I am planing for the Cessna Caravan

There are so many cars to cover those 100,000,000 miles of road. Which makes the driving more dangerous :P SO many factors we can put into this lol

GA is on a ONE FATALE crash per day 9/11/22 - 9/17/22

I consider flying super safe I would love to fly with this pilot!!!!!I love Friendly Skies Film!!!also Friendly Skies Film has incurage'd me to get my pilots licence when I'm older!!!!

Mqybe 2015 was bad year for private Aviation ?

I have a 220mi total commute daily, 6 days a week. I personally feel safer in the air where 9.9/10 emergencies I can glide to a landing. If I crash it is at a speed less than my daily commute's speed limit (70mph here). I have had an inflight fire as well as a car catch fire. It was less stressful in the work van of course BUT the airplane fire was out within 30 seconds tops, start to detection to finish. The work van was engulfed by the time I pulled over.

Is it a cherokee 180? If not then what is it?

Maybe I missed it but maintenance on an aircraft is mandatory but not mandatory on a car in the US. That is one very important factor.

I wonder what would happen if you looked at fatal accidents per trip/flight. I think that would be interesting, and quite a fair comparison. After all, one would not die in a hypothetical accident if one stayed home, ergo: you only get a chance to get involved in an accident and hurt yourself, once you go on a road trip (however short or long) or a flight. I think that would make for an interesting statistic. However, I doubt that there exist such data (number of car trips, number of GA flights)...?

I did a calculation similar to yours to compare motorcycling to private flying (flying your own plane) - I used to have a 69 Cessna 177 Cardinal - and I ride motorcycles. If you compare the two the fatality rate per hour/mile is similar. BUT I figured that, flying myself, that at least it would be totally my fault, I would have to mess up some way (and I was very careful and methodical). Though you can solo-crash a motorcycle (I did that exactly a year ago today and broke my arm, lost traction on the back tire in a corner) - the advantage of flying over riding is YOU ARE VERY UNLIKELY TO HAVE ANOTHER PLANE TURN LEFT IN FRONT OF YOU. So - all things being equal - flying should be somewhat safer than riding a motorcycle, or at least if you do get into an accident it's much more likely to be your own damn fault.

I would set the average speed for a car to be quite a bit lower than 50 mph. I'd say 40 as my guess

I think the reason pilot error is so high is because they have the pilot over worked. Many routine tasks need to be automated. The Garmin flight control suite is a start. After making a flight of say three hours that pilot is going be exhausted and prone to making errors, which on an aircraft can be fatal. Self flying planes, well maybe, but if you want less pilot error then automate.

I see that 25% of accidents are due to stalls, yet a stall is quite easy to prevent and even quite easy to recover (given you have enough height). How come it makes up for such a large proportion of accidents?

Did you hear that the FAA has changed the medical regulation for GA pilots? I requires less FAA exams but puts more restrictions on what you can fly.

As a driver and a pilot, I know I can beat statistical averages simply by doing a few things people “on average” don’t do. Most people speed on the highway, do some amount of texting/ phoning, drive while tired. Most pilots cut corners on weather minimums at least a little, skimp on preflights, fly too few hours under varying conditions per year. If I choose to do none of the above risky behaviors, I KNOW, I will beat the statistical averages.

I'm pretty sure we all know people (maybe ourselves) that have been in car crash and some probably have died. How many people do you know of that have been in plane crashes?

I would think GA should be compared to recreational driving, (motorcycles, ATV's, amateur racing, hot rodding, etc.) since it's mostly recreational flying as opposed to "necessary" or work related. The statistics on that would likely be more in line with GA.

"Flying is safe so long as you remember how dangerous it is" (source Unknown). Private pilots decide what level of risk is personally acceptable. Remembering how dangerous it is causes us to operate in a way to reduce risk to a level that is personally acceptable. And then as with everything in life there is a degree of good and bad luck. You can be unlucky in a car, plane, or watching tv (a 40T truck smashing in to your house). The statement "you couldn't pay me to fly with some pilots" is therefore absolutely correct, just like I wouldn't get in a car with some people. Great videos.

That was different... cool!

What kind of plane do you own/fly

I took my 1st small plane flight last Monday and tomorrow I'm staring proper lessons with actual theory. I don't take my exam until next year because I'm not 17 yet. But my question is how hard is the theory and can you recommend any books that could help me???? And how often should I take lessons???

I'd say that it's as safe as you choose to make it. However, you may only have 2 seconds to choose and god help you if you make the wrong choice. And sometimes, choosing means staying on the ground.

hey Nick! finally reached out to 2 pilot buddies to get my pilots license... never heard back...

Flying is safe if you don't mess up

Wow. This video was excellently executed (by executed I mean the way in which it was done ... not the islamic state type of execution). Well done!!! Keep up the good work.