Musings: Flying in planes is safe despite rare crashes

Whenever we board an airplane, we place our lives in the hands of others. Among them are the manufacturer of the aircraft, the mechanics who maintain it, the people who pilot it, and the network of people who keep order in the skies. It is an act of complete faith that we will be propelled down the runway, climb a few miles into the sky, and then touch down safely at our destination.

The system works so well that flying is the safest mode of transportation. We accept that accidents happen, but they’re so rare, they’ll “never happen to us.”

One thing that never occurs to us is that the thing that might go wrong would be a deliberate act.

The initial reports on the Air India 171 disaster seem to indicate that this crash may have been the result of an intentional action by one of the pilots.

From the time I was a preteen until well into my adulthood, my mom worked in the flight operations office of Air India at Kennedy Airport. In those days, although it was government-owned, the airline’s operations were under the control of the family of J.R.D. Tata, and especially on its then sole North Atlantic route, London to Kennedy, it was a well-respected carrier.

The airline grew exponentially, the government took control from Tata, and its reputation slid quite a bit.

In recent years, the Tata family has regained control of a much larger airline and the carrier’s reputation has begun to improve.

So it’s been heartbreaking to read of the possibility that one of the pilots of this airline that’s been a big part of my life, while at the controls of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, may have made a conscious decision to take not only his own life but the lives of the lives of 229 of the 230 passengers plus 11 other crew members and 19 people on the ground.

And yet, the next time I board an aircraft, because incidents like this are so rare, I will do so with full confidence that I will arrive safely at my destination.

— Leonard Cohen, Wantagh