Travelling by plane has never been safer, said the EU's European Aviation Safety Agency.

"Worldwide fatal accidents involving large commercial air transport airplanes were lower in 2013 than any other year in the last decade, with 17 accidents, compared with a yearly average of 27," the agency said.

In line with the drop in crashes, fatalities also plummeted last year with only 224 killed in plane accidents worldwide compared with a yearly average of 703 between 2003 and 2012.

In European Union skies, there were no fatal accidents "involving large commercial air transport airplanes," the agency said with airlines carrying out approximately 6 million commercial flights that transported 800 million passengers.

One of the highest profile incidents of 2013 was the crash landing of Asiana Flight 214 at San Francisco's airport in July. The Korean airline hit a seawall after approaching too low and slow towards the runway. Three people were killed.

 

2 to 4 airplanes built into one.

In addition, all important systems in the plane are duplicated, it means that you have a minimum of two or more systems that can perform the same job.

Below Airbus 380 hydraulic system.

If we look at the picture above , we can see that all the essential control surfaces have 3 systems , 2 hydraulic and one electric .

If we for example looks at the power supply in the MD-80 plane, then we have a power generator on each engine, an APU (auxiliary power unit) which can be started and then provide power to the aircraft, finally a battery supply, so there is actually 4 systems which can replace each other. And the plane don't crash because the supply voltage is missing.
Also the main instruments are duplicated with backup instruments, also called standby instruments, which also works without power.

Each fuel tank has two fuel pumps and MD-80 has 3 fuel tanks, the fuel tanks can simultaneously be connected via mechanical valves. Should all 6 pumps be defective, the engine can even suck the necessary fuel to keep it functioning.

I could go on in a long time, to mentionall all the systems that are duplicated.
At the same time all systems are carefully tested and approved by authorized bodies and therefore complies with very high standards.
Mistakes and accidents reported to the accident investigation and aircraft manufacturers , which then corrects errors and make new procedures so that the error does not happen again.

Let's take the worst scenario, and say that all the engines stops, then the aircraft can actually still be flown as a glider, but of course not as effectively as a glider.
Think of the plane that landed in the Hudson River, without any engine power and without casualties. There are several planes throughout history that have landed without power and where the passengers have left the aircraft without a single scratch.

Below we see "The Gimli Glider "

The plane ran out of fuel, glided through the air like a glider, down to the abandoned airbase named Gimli, as the day was used for kart training.

No one was hurt during the landing.

Do you or do you know someone who has been in a driving course, then you also know that this driver is a safe driver. So think about pilots that regularly have to fly the simulator to train the various emergency procedures. The pilots know exactly what to do in a given situation, and they have checklists that they follow item by item. Pilots are some of the most professional drivers, we can come on tour with.

Pilots must also have a "type rating" for the specific aircraft type that they fly. It could roughly be compared as the driver that drives a coupe, must get a type rating to drive a station wagon.

Ignorance.

Ignorance is one of the things that can make one afraid of flying. Therefore, it may be beneficial if you learn yourself what is happening during a flight. Here below I give a brief explanation of what happen during a flight. This may vary slightly depending on the aircraft , airport and procedure.

Sometimes one hears some "jet engine" noise when you walk on board, it's not the engines, but an APU unit that can be heard. An APU is a turbine generator that provides power, fresh air to the cabin and compressed air to start the jet engines.

If the aircraft is pushed backwards from the gate, it's usually a tractor that performs this task.
Here it is very normal to remove the air conditioning in the cabin, to use the air pressure to start the jet engines, which will then be started one by one.
If you hear a "ding" and the cabin light flashes, it is the aircraft engine generator that switches on in stead of the APU supply.
When the engine is started, it is very normal that the APU device is turned off. Sometimes the APU is tuned off after takeoff.

The pilots are now trying the flight controls, which can be seen as a movement of wing surfaces. Flaps and slats are extended. Standing takeoff is the most powerfull, here the plane is kept in the brakes on the runway while the engines spools up , then the brakes are released and the plane accelerate fast. Even if you think that the plane is running in a long distance, I can guarantee you that the runway is long enough. Power, weight , temperature and condition of the runway surface is taken into account to calculate the initial length to a safe takeoff and landing.

The plane will take off and the wheels will be drawn up in the wheel well. Maybe the air conditioning / air nozzle first turns on here after the plane has taken off. Flaps and slats are retracted when the plane reaches higher speeds.
You can hear the jet engines slow down even if the plane still climb, the thrust is adjusted by: takeoff thrust, climb thrust and when the desired altitude is reached, then cruise thrust is selected. The pilot can always overbooste the engines more than 100% briefly in a emergency situation to get more power for speed or climb. A normal start is often performed with a calculated reduced engine power to save fuel and wear, all within a large safety margin.
If an fault occurs and an engine shots down under the start, there is still enough power to perform a safe takeoff. The plane climb less rapidly and will then follow a safe "emergency" route where there are no obstructions such as tall skyscabers.
 
The pressure in the cabin is regulated on the way up and down, which can provide earplugs.

Long time before landing you will be able to hear the jet engines throttle down, that makes the plane "float" as far as possible to the aerodrome, it saves fuel.

Close to the landing the slats, flaps and landing wheels are activated.
During the approach, the motors can well spool up and down, it is because the pilot using the engines to control the aircraft's altitude. When the plane lands then you hear the engine revs up again, thise are reverse thrust, which means that the engine delivers pressure opposite direction of flight, this is to slow the aircraft down in speed, and when low speed is reached, the mechanical wheel brakes is applied. The aircraft can also be brought to a halt only with the mechanical brakes.
Some airlines choose to taxi the aircraft to the gate on only one engine, it is to reduce noise and fuel consumption.

As you can see, there are many things going on during a flight, which can give unfamiliar sounds, but it is quite normal that there are some sounds when the different components are activated and there is no danger in this.

You can always keep an eye on cabin crew if they act normal and do their work then everything is under control.

Fear Of Flying

Stacey Chance flew his first solo flight on his 16th birthday. The next day, he went down to the Department of Motor Vehicles and got his license. Now a commercial pilot for American Airlines since 1985, Chance has always been more comfortable in the air than on the road. In 2001, he put up www.fearofflyinghelp.com, a free online course to help those with aviophobia ease their fears.

At that time, Chance, who grew up watching airplanes take flight at Napa Airport, said he was surprised to learn that "fear of flying" was Googled 3,000 times a month. Because there were many books on the subject, he established the Web site to educate passengers on their biggest concerns -- turbulence, take-offs and in-air panic attacks -- in the hope that they could overcome them.

Clik to get online help here