Comments on: (No) Fear of Flying… http://www.hawaiistories.com/chris/2008/02/08/no-fear-of-flying/ Thousands of miles from the islands. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:30:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: macpro http://www.hawaiistories.com/chris/2008/02/08/no-fear-of-flying/#comment-1934 macpro Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:03:18 +0000 http://www.hawaiistories.com/chris/2008/02/08/no-fear-of-flying/#comment-1934 Huh! I have those thoughts all of the time, and I only fly between the islands of Hawaii and Oahu... a 35 minute trip. But anything that is possible, can go wrong. * Cargo door may not be secured correctly. Could blow out in mid flight. (United 747 HI to Australia) * Engine could flame out while in flight. (recent on HAL Hilo to HNL) * Aircraft could land on wrong runway. * A spark could ignite an explosion (TWA 800) * An engine could fall off while plane is taking off (AMA DC-10, 1978) Still with all the thousands of flights occuring hourly anywhere over the U.S. and around the world, the odds are slim that something bad will happen. Of course for me there is the issue of using only 2 engined jets for long haul flights. Once upon a time most long hauls were 4 engine jets (747, DC-8, 707) or at least 3 (DC-10, L-1011, MD11)... now 2 is common... the redundancy of having a 3rd or 4th engine is lost on me. Huh! I have those thoughts all of the time, and I only fly between the islands of Hawaii and Oahu… a 35 minute trip. But anything that is possible, can go wrong.

* Cargo door may not be secured correctly. Could blow out in mid flight. (United 747 HI to Australia)
* Engine could flame out while in flight. (recent on HAL Hilo to HNL)
* Aircraft could land on wrong runway.
* A spark could ignite an explosion (TWA 800)
* An engine could fall off while plane is taking off (AMA DC-10, 1978)

Still with all the thousands of flights occuring hourly anywhere over the U.S. and around the world, the odds are slim that something bad will happen.

Of course for me there is the issue of using only 2 engined jets for long haul flights. Once upon a time most long hauls were 4 engine jets (747, DC-8, 707) or at least 3 (DC-10, L-1011, MD11)… now 2 is common… the redundancy of having a 3rd or 4th engine is lost on me.

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