Aviation in Itself is not Inherently Dangerous. But, it is Terribly Unforgiving of any Carelessness, Incapacity or Neglect.

In doing just a little research about the numbers of flying deaths since the Wright Brothers, a post on the website Quora.com states, “According to this website: Airplane Crashes Since 1908, the total number of people killed in aviation accidents since early in aviation history is 105,479 as of sometime last year (posted six years ago). Most losses by airline: Aeroflot. Most losses by aircraft: DC3. War losses were not included.”

Another post states, “In the beginning, most everyone in aviation died. And sooner than later. So much so that the industry soon took up the motto of “Never again”.

Another post on Quora.com states, “As others have mentioned the data is inconsistent and you can’t really get a reliable number. However, consider this: there are likely more people flying these days, on any given day, than have died in the entire history of flight. Hundreds of thousands of people, maybe even millions, fly every day all around the world and make it to their destination safely. It really is the safest way to travel.”

And finally, another post states, “There have been about 40,000 fatalities since planes existed from 1902 to 2020. This is an estimate not exactly accurate. Governments didn’t track the data early-on.”

So, we may not actually know, and we may never know, how many people have died in aviation, even with AI scouring all the websites and data in the world. But we can accurately state that there have been many thousands killed since 1903, whatever that tragic number is. And that number doesn’t include the Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus, where according to Wikipedia, “Daedalus created two sets of wings made of wax and feathers to escape from an island. He warned his son, Icarus, not to fly too close to the sun, as the wax would melt. Icarus ignored the warning and fell into the sea and drowned”.

Still, in balance I think, aviation history is comprised of more triumphs and successes, more victories and accomplishments than it is comprised of failures.  Yet there is a great truism in the quote commonly attributed to Captain Alfred Gilmer Lamplugh, British Aviation Insurance Group, “Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.”

And perhaps this quote is no more strongly illustrated than in the tragic San Diego mishap on this day in 1978. History.com reminds us that 46 years ago today, “A Pacific Southwest Airlines jet collided in mid-air with a small Cessna over San Diego, killing 144 people on September 25, 1978. The wreckage of the planes fell into a populous neighborhood, doing extensive damage on the ground.

“David Lee Boswell and his instructor, Martin Kazy, were in the process of a flying lesson in a single-engine Cessna 172 on the morning of September 25, practicing approaches at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field airport. After two successful passes, Boswell aimed the Cessna toward the Montgomery Field airport northeast of San Diego.

“At the same time, Pacific Southwest Flight 182 was approaching San Diego. The jet, a Boeing 727, was carrying 135 passengers and crew members from Sacramento, after a stopover in Los Angeles. Though air-traffic controllers at Lindbergh had told Boswell to keep the Cessna below 3,500 feet altitude as it flew northeast, the Cessna did not comply and changed course without informing the controllers.

“The pilots of Flight 182 could see the Cessna clearly at 9 a.m., but soon lost sight of it and failed to inform the controllers. Meanwhile, the conflict-alert warning system began to flash at the air-traffic control center. However, because the alert system went off so frequently with false alarms, it was ignored. The controllers believed that the pilots of the 727 had the Cessna in view. Within a minute, the planes collided.

Photo courtesy of Hans Wendt, County of San Diego

“The fuel in the 727 burst into a massive fireball upon impact. A witness on the ground reported that she saw her ‘apples and oranges bake on the trees.’ The planes nose-dived straight into San Diego’s North Park neighborhood, destroying 22 homes and killing seven people on the ground. All 135 people on the 727 were killed, as well as both of the Cessna’s pilots.”

Onward and upward!

Sources: History.com, Quora.com, Wikipedia