Aviation Accidents and Disasters
Atlanta is home to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport which is the busiest passenger airport in the world. The Atlanta airport also has the tallest air traffic control tower in North America and the third largest tower in the world. With over 2700 arrivals and departures every day, you may wonder how so many planes manage to avoid mid-air collisions especially, if like many other Georgia residents, you have been following the airplane accident that occurred over the Hudson River earlier this month.
In that airplane accident, a small plane crashed into a sight-seeing helicopter killing nine people. The National Transportation Safety Board has raised questions about the unregulated flights and the Federal Aviation Administration is looking into the liability of the air traffic controllers. Specifically, the FAA is determining whether the air traffic controllers failed in their duty to keep the planes separated and apprised of each other's location.
Even though it is safer to travel in an airplane than drive a car, airplane accidents often involve a higher rate of fatalities. While larger planes are involved in fewer accidents, your safety really rests in the hands of a knowledgeable pilot and air traffic controller.
When we board a flight, I suspect that we all try to figure out which seat is the "safest" on a flight. The real answer is there is no "safest" seat. It all depends on what part of the plane is impacted in an accident - a prediction no one can make. What does make a difference is that we listen to the flight attendant's safety instructions and follow them.
