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I have a private pilots license, and many of my friends are scared to fly with me. Does anyone have a valid reason for this ridiculous behavior?!?!
1. Private planes have a much worse safety record than airlines. One reason is that private pilots don’t get as much experience as professional pilots, and few have sufficient funds to provide the same level of maintenance as airlines or the armed forces.
2. While planes may have a better safety record than surface transit, the liklihood of surviving an airplance crash is much less. Remember that if your car, bus or train develops mechanical trouble, you are at most delayed. If a plane develops mechanical problems in flight, it is likely to be fatal.
@chatzerstrauss
And what type of plane are you rated for and what do you fly?
I wouldn’t be interested in flying a Piper Cherokee with you at the controls, but if you had the rating and a G3, G4, G5 or G6 or a Phenom 300 I might consider it.
My Key-man life insurance policy held by my form prohibits my flying in single engine private aircraft or private/charter jets without 2 pilots.
@Akuperma
I believe you may be conflating ‘private’ and ‘professional’ in regards to pilots.
I regularly fly private (NetJets or charter). The Pilots are definitely professional, but operate private planes. This is different form the recreational pilot who pilots small prop planes for joy.
Most of the charter pilots I’ve encountered in the USA have many years of experience and like the pay scale compared to those of the regional jets used by many airlines.As for maintenance, many airlines cut corners and outsource maintenance to 3rd world providers. The US charter fleet is well maintained, many by the mfg (such as Embraer in Florida).
I think the above postings make a really critical point. There is a world of difference in the safety records of “private” planes. Aircraft maintained and operated by commercial private flight operators or corporate fleets have an incredibly high safety record, in many cases equivalent to commercial scheduled airlines. Aircraft owned/operated by individuals or by small businesses that rely on their inhouse pilots and maintenance staff have a considerably less stellar safety record in comparison. The author of the original post really didn’t provide much information to know which end of the spectrum he fits in. If he owns his own small plane that is maintained by a local flight services operator and only flies periodically, I can understand why some might be a bit hesitant.
A professional pilot (meaning someone whose full time career is flying) is not a “private pilot” – even if he or she works for other than a major carrier. Someone who flies his own plane when he needs to travel, but is not a professional pilot is “private”.
@akuperma
The reason I asked is that I know a number of people/businesses who employ a private chauffeur for their vehicle(s). These have a full time career driving but don’t hold a public service or hack license.
They are privately employed professionals. Same with boat captains and plane pilots.I think a better term for one who only flies his/her own plane might be a recreational pilot (even if he/she flies on business).
akuperma,
You’re going to argue the definition of private with a lawyer? 😂
@Avram
Tomorrow I’ll be flying private, with professional pilots to take Mrs. CTL to Florida. She had more surgery last Friday and its time for her to recuperate in warmer weather. I’m flying right back as year end is busy at the office.
I cannot spare the time it would take to fly r/t commercial with holiday period delays and crowds, and she needs the comfort.Why are you assuming that akuperman isn’t a lawyer?
Perhaps we are aware that Hashem created us to walk upon the earth with our feet. being enclosed in a metal tube miles above the surface of the earth, especially moving at these incredible speeds, is simply abnormal. Of course, we get to learn to accept it, but that is acquired knowledge, not innate experience.
I think it all started with Icarus.
Since then people are nervous when they fly.
🙂Icarus didn’t have a valid pilot’s license. Chatzer strauss said he has a license.
As akuperman correctly pointed out, private planes have a much worse safety record than commercial airlines.
That’s the answer in a nutshell.
No, the comparative risk of a fatality — per mile taken or per trip taken (defining a trip as a motor vehicle ride versus a private plane ride) — is greater on a private plane trip than on a motor vehicle ride.
We’re not counting every fender bender or even every time someone hurt themselves on a short stop, even if they went to the hospital for a safety precaution, We’re speaking specifically and only of fatalities.
I also wonder about the statistic. I seem to recall it is based on miles travelled, as opposed to number of trips or time spent travelling.
People will take a car for a very short trip, the shortest flights, even in a single engine plane has got to be way more than the shortest car trip. And I would imagine that you could hardly compare the average car trip to the average flight. How do the average number of fatalities per trip compare between flying and driving a car (take out motorcycles).
Same would go for the amount of time travelling, How do the statistics compare when you use fatalities per hour travelled?
I am just wondering.
Honestly I’m terrified of flying whether It’s a big plane or a small one. But I think the reason your friends don’t want to fly with you is because its easier to put your life in a “professionals” hand then your friends. Even if he does have a license.
“I have a private pilots license, and many of my friends are scared to fly with me. Does anyone have a valid reason for this ridiculous behavior?!?!”
We have never seen you fly or drive or do anything else for that matter to know why your friends would not want to fly with you.
Perhaps some introspection may be necessary.
although I just skimmed the thread. …..
I think I saw someone mention an airplane fenderbender… haha! imagine thatnishtdayngesheft, it may not be Pilots flying abilities, maybe just his slightly skewed personality
# Can the moderator please censor this , , replacing everything but “pilot” and “skewed personality” with stars….(Just to see if it works)Did it work?
But your friends know you in ways that the examiner doesn’t and therefore they may have reasons they do not want to fly with you, even if you did pass the exam.
And saying emphasizing that the FAA is part of the government hardly bolsters its reputation.
chatzer strauss: Every private plane crash was piloted by someone who an FAA examiner saw fly and was issued a pilots license, indicating FAA/government belief he (may he RIP) was a safe pilot and qualified to fly.
Perhaps someone can help me.
I have high blood pressure and is controlled by medication. 3 years ago I was due to fly on a routine international trip that I had taken many times before. The day before the trip I had a 24 blood pressure monitor fitted for the day. It recorded my pressure at 230/150 with medication.
My Doctor advised me that it may be a life threatening risk to fly the next day as my pressure could go higher.
As soon as I cancelled my blood pressure went back to normal. I haven’t flown since.
Can anyone advise me what to do to stop my blood pressure rising before flying.For me, I think my unease with flying as opposed to driving is the fact that if something catastrophic happens in a car, it’s pretty much over and done with relatively quickly. With unconsciousness and or worse happening immediately. Something catastrophic happens in the air…..well, you now have 7000ft of falling and screaming to think about what’s about what happens next…. (OMG…just a joke!!)
But yes, its completely irrational. Remember:
Keep Calm
And…
V1……Rotate….PS: Chatzer, ever talk to Kennedy Steve?
Statistics, cars versus planes, none of this matters. No one is sitting down with a bunch of studies and making an educated choice to be afraid of small planes. People see news stories about crashes, look at a tiny little plane that is only powered by a propeller, and decide that flying around in this thing is not something they feel safe doing.
Are you all sitting in one big chair?
OP, I would rather fly with someone who thinks flying is dangerous than with someone who thinks flying is safe.
@RebYidd23 Why? If you are flying with someone who thinks its dangerous they are more likely to make a mistake. Someone who thinks its safe is more likely to not do something stupid under pressure.
The reason people get nervous when they fly is because they have this phobia that a) they will not reach their destination in 1 piece or b) they will not reach their intended destination at all, and people have this phobia that the plane will fall out of the sky, e.g. flight MH370/
the most dangerous part of flying is driving to the airport
@Chatzer
“Which would you rather fly with.
A licensed pilot who flies small planes who only learned in a real plane, or a pilot who is flying a plane for the very first time, who only trained on a very realistic computer game?”Your scenario is false…………………….
The licensed pilot who flies the small plane is likely the only pilot (unlike the TWO pilots on the Citation X I flew back and forth to Boca Raton Airport yesterday).The licensed pilot flying the first time with passengers in that B787 is not in the captain’s seat. In the captain’s seat doing the training is a licensed pilot with many thousands of hours in large commercial jets. To be perfectly honest, I’d rather fly with that 55 year old captain with 20,000+ hours commercial jet experience and 10 years military flying than someone with your limited hours.
@Chatzer
Does anyone ever really announce V2 speeds even when its nogeah…….?
Flying on a private aircraft has a greater fatality rate than driving.
A pilot who is aware of the risks is far more cautious than one who denies that there is a risk.
The safest solution is to simply fly commercial and forget about general/private aviation.
Cessna,
Based on your posts it seems that you are a relatively new pilot, it also seems that you have a very limited or basic knowledge of the aviation industry.
I do not believe that your limited flying experience matches with the commercial co-pilot who not only already has the minimum flying hours but also underwent the training and testing to let them be in this seat.
They also have an experienced pilot with them.
The industry standards are probably way better than those of your recreational requirements, which is why it is easy to understand why people might not feel that comfortable placing their lives in your hands.
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