Plane Crash: Incidents Rising, Passengers should know their Rights

Pikeville, KYRegardless of the statistical risk, a plane crash is a catastrophic event and you sure don't want to go through one. Injuries are pretty much a given, and the chance you may not survive is a substantial risk. Your loss will have a huge impact on your spouse or partner, your children, your family. And their future.

Manufacturers of aircraft, and the people charged with their maintenance and safe operation have a responsibility that should not be taken lightly. Unfortunately, complacency and greed can enter into the mix - and like any business, all too often the bottom line goes to the head of the line. When that happens, you have a situation where an aircraft is unsafe to fly; a pilot is under-qualified and inexperienced, an air traffic controller is overworked and tired. There are more planes in the air than ever before - increasing traffic, and increasing demand on those individuals responsible for communicating with pilots, vital pieces of information for take-off and landing.

It all combines into a recipe for disaster, in spite of the long-held belief that flying is safer than driving in a car.

Well, tell that to the friends and relatives of the Lester family, in Eastern Kentucky. The pilot of a small plane, together with his wife and 17-year-old son, were killed a mile shy of the airport at Pikeville, in 2005. It is alleged that the air traffic controller located at Indiana gave pilot Herman Lester incorrect information, which led to the crash. The FAA is named as a defendant in a lawsuit seeking $10 million in damages.

Another plane crash, this one just two weeks ago in Washington State, also claimed the lives of three people - the pilot and his two passengers - after the A-36 Beechcraft Bonanza clipped some trees and went down at Bayview-Skagit Regional Airport, about 60 miles north of Seattle. The pilot was attempting a second GPS landing when the plane slammed into the ground and burst into flames, killing the three instantly.

Two weeks later, a Cessna 210 crashed near the Moriarty Airport in New Mexico, killing the student pilot and injuring an instructor. The plane had been engaged in practising take-offs and landings, when the crash occurred.

Do you see a trend?

As aircraft become more affordable for private companies and corporations, and with the economy becoming even more globalized, the face of flying is changing. No longer are the skies the bastion of the large, commercial airliner. There is an increasing presence of personal planes and small, charter aircraft. Clients like the idea of not being tied to a specific commercial flight schedule, which translates to a more efficient and timely means of moving staff and clientele around.

The market for air taxis and air shuttles is growing. To that end Bombardier, a Canadian company, can scarcely keep up with orders for its small, commuter planes.

One problem is that a proliferation in small aircraft creates by osmosis a shortage of qualified pilots. Charter operators typically hire young, inexperienced pilots. And while smaller planes are just as airworthy as their larger commercial counterparts, one has to wonder if maintenance procedures are equally diligent.

Data on safety when it comes to the small air taxi industry and small planes in general is yet to be measured, but there is a trend: even though commercial air travel in general is four times safer than driving a car, the small personal plane and/or charter plane presents an accident rate that is 7 times higher than driving a car.

While studies are continuing, one thing is clear: more and more people are flying - in large planes, small planes, commercial planes and private planes. Once glamorous and expensive, flying has evolved to routine habit and undeniable affordability.

However, what corners are cut in an effort to protect the profit? Is proper maintenance, and airworthiness, a given? Is the pilot experienced in all areas? And is the operator properly insured?

All too often familiarity can breed complacency.

Plane crashes can happen, and they happen more often in smaller planes. If you think it can't happen to you, think again. And in spite of the plush surroundings, and the smiling attendants, an airplane is a complex machine that needs to be carefully maintained, to remain airworthy. It may look good to the naked eye, but things are not always as they seem. And unlike a car, which you can pull over to the side of the road if you have a problem...

It's a long way down.