Are passenger planes safe?

The crash of the A321 airliner in the sky over the Sinai Peninsula, which occurred on October 31, 2015, gave rise to many fears. And today I would like to talk about how safe the most massive civilian aircraft are.

Boeing 737

The Boeing 737 family is the most common group of modern airliners. Every five seconds in the world one such car takes off and sits down. And the 737 became the most massive turbofan passenger aircraft in the history of aviation. By the summer of 2015, more than 8.6 thousand of these machines were produced, and dozens of countries of the world operate it. By 2005, 1,882 aircraft of the 737-300 / 400/500 (Classic) models and 1,643 cars of the 737-600 / 700/800/900 (Next Generation) were used.

"Dynasty" 737-x includes many airliners, built at different times and have different capabilities. If the Boeing 737-100 has up to 103 passenger seats, the largest aircraft of the 737-900ER family can take up to 215 passengers on board. Now they are producing a new, third generation - Boeing 737NG (Next Generation), and soon will appear and its successor - Boeing 737 MAX. One of the differences of the new machine will be the more powerful, reliable and economical engines CFM International LEAP-1B. In the design of the aircraft, new composite materials are also used. In general, the aircraft will become more comfortable and safer. According to the management of Boeing, this will successfully compete with Airbus and its new A320neo.

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By 2014, 177 Boeing 737 airliners were lost in accidents, and the total number of victims exceeded 3.8 thousand. The largest was the collapse of the Boeing 737-8HG in Mangalore (India) in 2010: 158 passengers and crew members of 166 on board were killed. However, do not be afraid. In the case of the Boeing 737NG, one catastrophe accounts for 17 million flight hours, and it is deservedly among the safest airliners in the world. The lion's share of all accidents with his participation falls on the budget airlines of the third world countries, and the cause of disasters is most often the human factor.

Airbus A320

At the second position is located not less famous A320. Recently, this aircraft is focused special attention, because the crashed A321 is one of its modifications. The A320 is a narrow-body passenger aircraft created by the European corporation Airbus. It became the first in the history of a serial airliner, which received an electric remote control system (EDSU).

A320 continues to enjoy great popularity, and by autumn 2015, more than 6.7 thousand of these ships were produced. By 2005, there were 2420 different modifications of the A320 in operation. The largest modification of the aircraft was A321, which in the economy version will accommodate up to 220 passengers. The flight range in this case can reach 5600 km. The aircraft is not only very popular, but also has good prospects for the future. They are associated with the modification of the Airbus A320neo, whose engines will be 15% more economical than those used today. The new modification boasts increased comfort for passengers, greater environmental friendliness and lower noise levels.

Security

The degree of safety of the A320 depends on the modification. In total, 33 such aircraft were lost in accidents and disasters, three of which were a variant of the 321th. Among the causes of disasters - terrorist attacks, equipment failure and, most importantly, the human factor. The biggest tragedy with the participation of Airbus was the Sinai incident on October 31, 2015: then, we recall, 224 people died. In general, the A320 is quite safe: one disaster accounts for approximately 15 million hours. This is slightly worse than the Boeing 737 (and a number of other passenger aircraft), but better than many airliners of this class. The new modification of the A320neo, obviously, will be even safer, so do not be afraid of flying on this plane.

Boeing 777

Boeing 777 got the third line of popularity rating. Before us is a family of wide-body passenger aircraft, which have been in operation since 1995. Until September 2015, Boeing produced 1340 of these aircraft in different versions, among which passenger options, transport and one refueling aircraft. The airliner is the largest twin-engine jet passenger plane of all that is operated. You can learn it from the characteristic six-wheel chassis racks. The peculiarity of the model was that for the first time in its development no paper drawings were used, and all calculations were performed on a computer. In general, the aircraft has sufficient comfort and is designed for commercial flights up to 18 hours. The capacity, depending on the modification, varies from 300 to 400 passengers in three classes.

Security

Up until 2014, the Boeing 777 was the safest aircraft in the world: one catastrophe accounted for 20 million hours. But in March 2014, the 370 Malaysia Airlines flight mysteriously disappeared over the waters of the Indian Ocean, and in July of the same year the same aircraft (and also the company Malaysia Airlines) was shot down in the sky over the Donbass. All this spoiled the reputation of the Boeing 777, and yet it remains an extremely reliable machine. In the foreseeable future, Boeing will begin production of a new modification of the 777X, the safety level of which will be even higher.

Airbus A330

Airbus A330 is a wide-body passenger aircraft, which has been actively operating since 1994. By the fall of 2015, 1224 such airliners, both civilian and military, were produced. The first ones are A330-100, A330-200, A330-200F, A330-200HGW, A330-300 and A330 P2F. Russian Aeroflot operates 22 A330-200 and A330-300 aircraft. The capacity of the latter is 335 passengers in two classes or 295 in three classes. The planes make long-distance flights from Moscow to Japan, Thailand, the USA, China and other countries. The newest model of the aircraft was called A330-300X.

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The airliner A330 is quite reliable: one disaster accounts for 14 million hours. On the plane's account are two major catastrophes. The first occurred in 2009 over the Atlantic Ocean, the second - in 2010 in Tripoli. A catastrophe over the Atlantic took 228 lives - all were lost on board. What happened was not only the biggest tragedy involving A330, but also the largest in the history of Air France. The cause of the incident experts called the freezing of Pitot tubes, the subsequent shutdown of the autopilot and ill-considered actions of the pilots.

Boeing 747

The giant Boeing 747 made the first flight in the distant 1969, but even now it continues active flights. By the time it was born, it has become the largest airliner in the world (today the Airbus A380 holds the palm of the championship). The high cost of the aircraft and its operation is covered by the benefits of mass air travel. The modification of the 747-400ER can accommodate up to 524 passengers in two classes or 416 in three classes. It was the modification 747-400, by the way, became the best-selling. The last version of the legendary car - Boeing 747-8 - first climbed into the sky in 2010. By 2015, more than 1,500 such cars were produced, of which by the mid-2000s there were just over a thousand flights. Of course, now there are much more economical and technologically advanced passenger aircraft, but the 747 continues to be actively operated on loaded and extended transcontinental routes.

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As was to be expected, the fate of the 747th was saturated and complex. By the current year, 59 of these ships were lost in accidents, and 3732 people became victims of aviation accidents. On the account of the airliner Boeing 747 and the largest air crash in history. This is a collision at the airport of Los Rodeos, when two Boeing 747s of KLM and Pan American aircraft collided on the runway. The result is the death of 583 people. True, the cause of the tragedy was again the notorious human factor: the pilots misunderstood the dispatcher's command, although, on the whole, the accident was due to a confluence of circumstances that were difficult to predict.

The last major catastrophe involving Boeing 747 occurred over the Taiwan Strait in 2002. Then, due to mechanical wear and poor repair, the plane crumbled into the air, killing all 225 people on board. The tail part of the car came off in flight, and the plane collapsed so quickly that the crew did not even have time to connect to the ground. The emergency of the 747 does not seem so high, considering how many aircraft were built and how many flights they made. One catastrophe falls on 17.5 million hours, so the airliner can deservedly be proud of being one of the safest winged cars in the world.

Boeing 767

Boeing 767 is in operation since 1982. During this time, they managed to produce in the amount of 1081 pcs. The wide-body airliner is built in several modifications, among which passenger aircraft and one transport aircraft. If other wide-bodied airliners of the second generation (such as the Airbus A300) are almost gone, the Boeing 767 continues to be actively used. Experts estimated that for all the time different modifications were carried by 795 million people, having fulfilled 4.8 million commercial flights. The most capacious modification of the 767-400ER can take on board up to 375 people. This option will cost the customer $ 200 million.

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One of the airliners Boeing 767 of Air Canada received the nickname "Glider Gimli" for being able to fly more than 120 km without fuel and make a successful landing. All those on board the flight survived, and the aircraft was rebuilt and put into operation. In total, 17 such vehicles were lost, 851 passengers and a crew member perished in disasters. The most famous tragedy involving a car of this type was the ramming terrorists of the tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Incident, however, it is unreasonable to write off on the liner itself - it is considered reliable and proven: according to statistics, one disaster accounts for 15.5 million hours.

Boeing 757

On the penultimate position of the rating is a twin-engine passenger narrow-body Boeing 757, produced from 1982 to 2004. During this time, 1050 airliners were built, of which about one thousand were in operation in 2005. The aircraft proved to be very successful from a commercial point of view and brought Boillian corporation multibillion-dollar revenues. There are two basic passenger modifications of the car: 757-200 and 757-300. Option 757-200 - the most common, it can accommodate up to 235 passengers. But the largest version of the 757-300 carries up to 280 passengers, and even in the cabin of increased comfort, conceptually close to that used on the models of the Boeing 737NG. There is also a transport variant - 757-200F, which is able to take on board up to 39 tons of cargo.

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Before us is another very successful in every sense, the creation of Boeing: one disaster accounts for approximately 14 million flying hours. For all the years of use of the 757, only eight such machines have been lost. And the level of crash could be even lower, if not for the terrorist attacks of September 11, when the terrorists captured two of these aircraft. One of them (on-board number N644AA) was directed by militants to the Pentagon building, the other (board number N591UA) crashed into the field when the passengers resisted the invaders. The biggest catastrophe in the history of Boeing 757 was the tragedy of Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic), when 189 people died. The cause of the disaster was ... a hornet's nest in the device of the Pitot tube, because of which the work of speed indicators was violated. This led to incorrect actions of the crew. People were guilty again, and not mechanisms.

Airbus A380

The world's largest airliner Airbus A380 is by far not the most massive aircraft. As of October this year, 173 such cars were built. However, we could not pass it, because in the future this airliner will be able to completely replace the Boeing 747. The A380 liner covers 525 passengers in three classes or 853 in a single-class configuration. So we have a whole air "city". Note that the cost of one such aircraft reaches 403.9 million dollars.

Security

And although the aircraft is operated relatively recently - since 2005, it can already be classified as one of the safest winged vehicles. The A380 account only had two accidents, all of them without casualties, and the planes themselves were paved to use. The first incident (2010) is associated with the destruction of one of the engines in flight. The second incident happened in 2011, it is connected with the collision of cars on the runway.