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Recently heard the boss of Ryanair saying that he'd never travel by helicopter, it's not safe enough. How safe is travel in a light airplane compared to a comme

Recently heard the boss of Ryanair saying that he'd never travel by helicopter, it's not safe enough. How safe is travel in a light airplane compared to a commercial airliner, I wonder? Helicopters and light aircraft vs Boeing/Airbus seem like motorcycles vs car to my safety first mind.

griffinkelly 6y ago
Big issue with light airplanes is you can't fly through serious inclement weather as it'll cause dangerous icing conditions that the big Boeing/Airbus type aircraft can. Some light aircraft have deicing or anti-icing, but its pretty rare.
- TylerE 6y ago
  This is totally incorrect. Icing isn't even in the top 10. In the sort of conditions wher le icing is likely, VFR pilots will lose orientation and fly it into the ground (or a mountain) way before they ice up.
  - griffinkelly 6y ago
    That's an issue of pilot error, not a difference in the physical airplane.
- travisjungroth 6y ago
  In 2016, there was one icing related crash in general aviation and no fatalities.
  - griffinkelly 6y ago
    Having flown into icing conditions in both airplanes with and without deicing, I can say this is the largest differentiation in my personal comfort level in an airplane.
madengr 6y ago
Watch some of the Air Safety Institute videos on YouTube. I believe 90% of general aviation accidents are VFR rated pilots flying into IMC (i.e. flying into clouds).
- travisjungroth 6y ago
  In 2016 there were 1,036 non-commercial general aviation accidents. 13 were caused by VFR into IMC, or 1.3%. 54% were fatal accidents. They accounted for 4.4% of fatal accidents. https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/air-safety-institute/accident-analysis/joseph-t-nall-report/non-commercial-fixed-wing https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/air-safety-institut...
TylerE 6y ago
Fatal accidents per 100,000 hours: GA: ~1.0 All helicopters: ~0.7 Commercial fixed wing: 0.05 (And the accidents that do occur on commercial flights are mostly small cargo planes... for major airlines that number would be more like 0.01 although it's hard to really get good numbers at that point because the numerator is so small... there are years when the US doesn't have a single fatal commercial passenger crash)
- DrScump 6y ago
  All helicopters: ~0.7 And how many of those were from equipment failure, rather than pilot error? The famous helicopter crashes that come to mind (e.g. Kobe, Bill Graham) were not from mechanical failure.
  - travisjungroth 6y ago
    Why does it matter? Doesn't really make a difference why it happened if you're in the back.
    - DrScump 6y ago
      It matters with respect to the parent comment quote about helicopter travel itself being unsafe, while statistics show it's safer than fixed wing GA.
      - michaelt 6y ago
        Chainsaw-juggling is as safe as knitting if you ignore human error. Safer, in fact, as so few chainsaw jugglers die of old age while engaging in their hobby. I'm not sure anyone would say chainsaw juggling was safe, though.
      - TylerE 6y ago
        That's a low bar. The vast majority of helicopter operations are commercial (They're EXPENSIVE, so pleasure helicopters...don't really exist), and the accident rate is far far worse than commerical fixed wing... 20x or more.
jrockway 6y ago
This video is a good overview of accident rates in commercial aviation, GA, and helicopters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpGl2_fVr2Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpGl2_fVr2Y Something to keep in mind about helicopters is that they're not a lot of them, so one accident makes the hourly accident rates go way up. Another is that helicopters take on dangerous missions. American Airlines isn't flying people to oil rigs or plucking you out of a car accident in a snowstorm. As a result, they enjoy better accident rates.
AdrianB1 6y ago
Technical problems are relatively rare in General Aviation and most of the time they are caused by human factors: improper or delayed maintenance. Pilot error is the major cause of accidents and fatalities in GA, making GA a lot less safe than commercial airliners. I read accident reports all the time, even the plane I fly the most was involved in a major incident, GA pilots are less experienced, less trained and less disciplined than commercial pilots. That being said, I think light planes are still safer than helicopters. I talked to a few helicopter pilots, I had instructors that also fly helicopters, autorotation is working sometimes, gliding works almost every time, so I prefer a light plane over a helicopter at any time.

griffinkelly 6y ago

Big issue with light airplanes is you can't fly through serious inclement weather as it'll cause dangerous icing conditions that the big Boeing/Airbus type aircraft can. Some light aircraft have deicing or anti-icing, but its pretty rare.

TylerE 6y ago
This is totally incorrect. Icing isn't even in the top 10. In the sort of conditions wher le icing is likely, VFR pilots will lose orientation and fly it into the ground (or a mountain) way before they ice up.
- griffinkelly 6y ago
  That's an issue of pilot error, not a difference in the physical airplane.
travisjungroth 6y ago
In 2016, there was one icing related crash in general aviation and no fatalities.
- griffinkelly 6y ago
  Having flown into icing conditions in both airplanes with and without deicing, I can say this is the largest differentiation in my personal comfort level in an airplane.

madengr 6y ago

Watch some of the Air Safety Institute videos on YouTube. I believe 90% of general aviation accidents are VFR rated pilots flying into IMC (i.e. flying into clouds).

travisjungroth 6y ago
In 2016 there were 1,036 non-commercial general aviation accidents. 13 were caused by VFR into IMC, or 1.3%. 54% were fatal accidents. They accounted for 4.4% of fatal accidents. https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/air-safety-institute/accident-analysis/joseph-t-nall-report/non-commercial-fixed-wing https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/air-safety-institut...

TylerE 6y ago

Fatal accidents per 100,000 hours: GA: ~1.0 All helicopters: ~0.7 Commercial fixed wing: 0.05 (And the accidents that do occur on commercial flights are mostly small cargo planes... for major airlines that number would be more like 0.01 although it's hard to really get good numbers at that point because the numerator is so small... there are years when the US doesn't have a single fatal commercial passenger crash)

DrScump 6y ago
All helicopters: ~0.7 And how many of those were from equipment failure, rather than pilot error? The famous helicopter crashes that come to mind (e.g. Kobe, Bill Graham) were not from mechanical failure.
- travisjungroth 6y ago
  Why does it matter? Doesn't really make a difference why it happened if you're in the back.
  - DrScump 6y ago
    It matters with respect to the parent comment quote about helicopter travel itself being unsafe, while statistics show it's safer than fixed wing GA.
    - michaelt 6y ago
      Chainsaw-juggling is as safe as knitting if you ignore human error. Safer, in fact, as so few chainsaw jugglers die of old age while engaging in their hobby. I'm not sure anyone would say chainsaw juggling was safe, though.
    - TylerE 6y ago
      That's a low bar. The vast majority of helicopter operations are commercial (They're EXPENSIVE, so pleasure helicopters...don't really exist), and the accident rate is far far worse than commerical fixed wing... 20x or more.

jrockway 6y ago

This video is a good overview of accident rates in commercial aviation, GA, and helicopters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpGl2_fVr2Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpGl2_fVr2Y Something to keep in mind about helicopters is that they're not a lot of them, so one accident makes the hourly accident rates go way up. Another is that helicopters take on dangerous missions. American Airlines isn't flying people to oil rigs or plucking you out of a car accident in a snowstorm. As a result, they enjoy better accident rates.

AdrianB1 6y ago

Technical problems are relatively rare in General Aviation and most of the time they are caused by human factors: improper or delayed maintenance. Pilot error is the major cause of accidents and fatalities in GA, making GA a lot less safe than commercial airliners. I read accident reports all the time, even the plane I fly the most was involved in a major incident, GA pilots are less experienced, less trained and less disciplined than commercial pilots. That being said, I think light planes are still safer than helicopters. I talked to a few helicopter pilots, I had instructors that also fly helicopters, autorotation is working sometimes, gliding works almost every time, so I prefer a light plane over a helicopter at any time.