A spate of in-flight safety emergencies has put United Airlines in the spotlight recently, leaving some travelers worried that the airline, and commercial air travel in general, is becoming less safe. .
last week, United Airlines plane loses rear tire during takeoff The plane landed in San Francisco and made an emergency landing in Los Angeles, marking the airline's fourth accident in a week. But aviation experts say air travel remains one of the safest forms of transportation, and it's just a coincidence that the safety incidents occurred so close to each other and were concentrated on United Airlines. It is claimed that
United Airlines, meanwhile, said the incidents were “separate and unrelated to each other.”
what happened?
The most recent incident involved United Airlines Flight 821 from San Francisco International Airport to Mexico City International Airport, which was diverted to Los Angeles because of a problem with the plane's hydraulic system. The airline said the plane was equipped with three hydraulic systems for “redundancy purposes” and that “preliminary information indicates there was a problem with only one system on this aircraft.” Stated. The aircraft landed safely and there were no injuries.
The accident followed another incident in which United Airlines Flight 2477 from Memphis, Tennessee, skidded off the runway and into grass after landing at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Previously, United Airlines from San Francisco to Japan I lost one tire during takeoff. — and made a safe emergency landing.
A United Airlines spokesperson said the plane was equipped with a spare tire and was designed to safely land “in the event of a missing or damaged tire.”
The first accident was even more of a fluke. A Florida-bound United Airlines plane caught fire in its engine after inhaling scattered bubble wrap.
Incidents are not evenly spaced
Given the number of flights airlines operate each year and the technology used to operate their aircraft, some delays are to be expected.
Mark Milam, director of technical programs at the Aviation Safety Foundation, told CBS MoneyWatch: “These types of events happen, but not all of them could have been prevented from United's perspective.”
“These incidents are not enough to judge the performance of one airline versus another. There is no clear indication that United's performance is different from other airlines,” Milam added.
He acknowledged that the timing of the consecutive incidents was somewhat unusual.
“Typically, they don't happen this often within a week, but because of the size of United, some of these events don't happen at steady, regular intervals,” Milam said, adding that they still do. Look closely at the airlines that have admitted that they are not.
“They don't want to lose the trust of the people at the back,” he said.
At a fluke timing
Aviation industry analyst Kit Darby also blamed the series of incidents on a fluke of timing.
“Overall, there's nothing that stands out other than a huge coincidence,” he told CBS MoneyWatch. If you look at the cases individually, there are some very rare cases, such as tires being lost.
And even then, Darby said, it's not a particularly dangerous event because the plane has reserves and is designed to function without them.
“It's too early to know why it came off,” he added.
Still the safest means of travel
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg addressed consumer concerns about airplanes in a recent press conference. He said federal data shows flying safety is improving, adding, “U.S. aviation is the safest form of travel in the world.”
According to the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) 2023 Safety Report, safety is only getting better.
According to the report, there will be no fatal jet accidents in 2023, and the mortality risk rate will be at an all-time low. More specifically, based on statistics, it would take a person to travel by air every day for 103,239 years to experience a fatal accident.
