It’s often said that flying by plane is safer than driving a car. Occasionally, we see one of these planes crash, but there are always reasons why planes crash. Here are the seven real reasons planes crash!
First of all, plane crashes are a sensitive subject.
For many, plane crashes are engraved in their memories and their tragedies. Whether their tragedies are shared by the entire nation or just a few hundred others.
9. Computer error
Computers do more of the flying than pilots do!
That’s what a friend of mine once said, and I do agree with him in all honesty.
As a result, it only takes one minor error in the system, whether in the aircraft’s navigation systems, engines or something entirely different (or unknown in the case of the 737 MAX!)
These are often the most difficult things to stop in-flight, as only two, or perhaps three people are even there to check it in the first place! (And as we’ll see later, they’re sometimes doing other things!)
Computer error has been one of the biggest reasons planes crash in recent years. Two of the most high profile cases of this have been the Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 which led to the grounding of the 737 MAX.
8. Pilot error
Pilots are human. They, just like everybody, make mistakes.
There have been hundreds, if not thousands of studies as to why and how pilot error occurs. However, usually this is down to:
- Poor communication
- Stress
- Home life (sometimes associated with stress)
- Mental overload
- Work overload
- Lack of sleep
- Misinterpreting data
- Flawed decision making
This is one of the most dangerous reasons plane crashes, and is usually the reason why most airliners crash.
Pilot error has lead to the 2015 TransAsia Airways Flight 235 crash, as well as the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash, also known as the Smolensk Air Disaster.
7. Boredom
You probably assume that pilots are always busy pilotting the aircraft during flight. This is simply not true. More often than not, as soon as the aircraft has reached cruising altitude, the pilots engage autopilot.
This could mean that pilots have several hours of free time on their hands. Whilst many read books, complete and re-check in-flight checks and find other ways to pass the time, others do not.
Sometimes the pilot or pilots get bored and start messing around with the avionics, nav systems and other in-flight equipment. This causes them to display false information that the pilots then use.
Many avgeeks and aviators agree that it is one of the worst reasons planes crash, as it is so avoidable!
6. You
You’re probably wondering how you are one of the main reasons planes crash. Don’t worry too much. Because it probably isn’t you specifically.
The captain of an airliner is the highest authority on the entire aircraft. Even if the airline’s main share holder is on board the aircraft, the captain still outranks him.
However, this does lead to some issues in flight, with especially rowdy passengers.
Flight attendants are trained to deal with rowdy passengers, having extensive training in calming techniques and persuasion techniques (is the passenger is slightly drunk).
Sometimes, however, a passenger is too rowdy for even the flight attendants, and the captain is called in order to settle the dispute.
There are several occasions where a rowdy passenger has attacked both the captain and first officer, which has led to severe injuries, and an incapacity to safely land the aircraft.
As a result, the pilots manage to land the aircraft, although it runs off the edge of the runway or misses it entirely!
5. Flight training
This is by far one of the rarest reasons planes crash, as airlines are fully aware of the dangers and take dramatic measures to prevent it from occurring!
Sometimes though, this does happen, where one or more of the flight crew isn’t qualified to handle the aircraft.
If discovered, this can cost the airline potentially millions of dollars in fines, not to mention lost sales!
However, if left undiscovered, could lead to a major air incident, which could perhaps claim teh lives of everyone on board!
As such, many airlines now require checks to be done by airports or fellow aircrew to make sure that the entire flight crew is certified to operate that specific type of aircraft!
4. Health
With the ongoing coronavirus scare, it can be understood why many pilots are worried for their health. However, it’s not just during a disease outbreak that health can be the reason planes crash!
In fact, many senior airline captains are well into their fifties or even their sixties. This leads to worries about their health, which often deteriorates as they get older.
As pilots get older, they have an increased chance of getting something like a heart attack, which could lead to the captain accidentially pushing the control column downwards.
This naturally is quite dangerous if the co-pilot is unable to wrestle control from the captain, and administer first aid to the captain.
3. Sabotage
It’s a horrible idea to even think of, but yes, some people do (try) to sabotage aircraft deliberately. This can be done through a variety of means, but it’s often to do with tampering with the engines.
However, there are a variety of techniques that can are used by a variety of groups.
The most well known example of this is the Arrow Air Flight 1285 in 1985. The Germanwings Flight 9525 is also another famous example, although this was largely down to the pilot.
2. The weather
Low lying fog, heavy cross winds and extreme rain are all types of weather that pilots hate!
This is because they are often the hardest to take off and land in.
- Low lying fog makes it increasingly difficult to see the end of the runways if you’re trying to take off. It also makes trying to see the start of the runway very difficult if you’re trying to land there!
- Heavy cross winds require you to fly and descend at an angle, and then quickly straighten up right before touchdown. It also means that you have to take off slightly off-center in order to counteract this!
- Extreme rain can mean floods on the runway which can mean that parts of runway are too slippy, which makes breaking quite hard. It also makes it quite hard to see the runway for all of the rain too!
1. ATC error
The ATC are there to organize the entire airfield and communicate with aircraft in the local area. Sometimes, these aircraft are taking off or landing, other times, they are just passing by.
If aircraft are doing the latter, especially small aircraft in rural areas, sometimes the ATC will inform them of anything they need to be aware of locally.
This may be things like:
- Hills
- Bad weather
- Patches of turbulence
- Mountains
- Large gatherings
- Local airfields that aren’t on the map
- Drone activity
Sometimes, the ATC will provide a way around this by asking the pilot to head to a certain bearing, climb or descend a certain amount or something similar.
Due to the trust between pilots and the ATC, most pilots take the controller’s word for it and do exactly what they say.
Occasionally, the controller says the wrong command, or tells the pilot the wrong number or bearing.
Whilst most of this can often just be embarrassing, many Cessna’s have crashed due to the pilot’s trust of the controller giving them the command.
Some statistics
Ok, so you’ve just read nine different reasons planes crash, and perhaps never want to fly on a plane every again. Here are some statistics to ease you:
- The odds of you being in a plane crash are 1 to 11 million
- In 2019, there were 20 air incidents out of 230,000 flights! Down from 25 in 2018!
- Air incidents are decreasing each year with tougher regulations and better flight training
- Fatalities in those air incidents are also decreasing too!
- 55% of air incidents are due to pilot error
- Choosing a well-known airline decreases your chances by more than 50%! Choosing a banned airline increases your risks by 150%!
- The bigger the aircraft is, the less chance you have of being in a plane crash
Essentially, you are incredibly unlikely to die in a plane crash. That is assuming that you pay to fly on an airline with a good safety record!
Got any other statistics or reasons planes crash? Tell us in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Giuseppe Milo via Flickr