Is there any way to make Air Travel safer?

Is there any way to make Air Travel safer? September 13, 2008

Posted by dodo in : Airlines, Flight Schedule, Hotels, Travelling Bag , trackback

Since the inception of the jet era, flying has become much safer because of innovations like computerised flight simulators, expanded radar coverage, and high-tech devices that warn pilots of such things as nearby aircraft, threatening proximity to terrain, precarious aircraft altitude or flight angle, and wind-shear conditions. The industry is continually finding new ways to make flying safer through better pilot training, better aircraft inspection and maintenance techniques, and new safety technologies. In the next century, for example, all commercial jets will use satellites to navigate and communicate their positions to air traffic controller on the ground — a tremendous advantage over ground-based navigation aids and radar that lose “sight” of planes once they fly beyond the horizon.

What is being done to enhance global aviation safety?

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA), the Flight Safety Foundation, manufacturers and others are working together to reduce the number of accidents. National governments around the world are reviewing an ICAO safety programme that will focus safety-related activities on “those initiatives that offer the best safety dividends in terms of reducing the accident rate.” Several countries have established national programmes that best meet their needs. In the US, for example, airlines, aviation associations, labour unions, government agencies and manu‑facturers have joined the FAA which is working to achieve an 80% reduction in the rate of fatal commercial accidents over the next 10 years.

Following is some information on one of the more common jet airliners flying, the BOEING 747

There are 6 million parts in the 747. Three million parts are fasteners, and about half of those are rivets.

Airline cargo handlers use the 747’s lower-lobe baggage and cargo handling system to load or unload 85 000 pounds (38 500 kg) of baggage — the equivalent of 3,400 pieces of luggage — in less than seven minutes.
The wing area of the 747-400 is 5 600 square feet (534,9 square metres), which is large enough to hold 45 medium sized automobiles.

The diameter of the 747 engine nose cowl is 8 feet 6 inches (2,6 la Four World War 1 vintage JN4-D “Jenny” aircraft could be lined up on each of the Boeing 747 wings.

One wing of the 747 weighs 28 000 pounds (12 700 kg), 10 times the weight of Boeing’s first aeroplane, the 1916 B&W.
More than 15 000 hours of wind-tunnel testing were completed on the first 747.
The 747 flight test programme leading to certification for commercial service in December 1969 employed five aeroplanes, lasted 10 months and required more than 1 500 hours of flying.
75 000 engineering drawings were used to produce the first 747.
The 747-400 contains the greatest passenger interior volume of any commercial airliner at 31 285 cubic feet (876 cubic metres), the equivalent of more than three 1 500 square foot houses.
The 3 300 gallons (12 490 1) of fuel carried in a tank in the horizontal (tall) stabiliser can take the 747-400 an extra 400 miles.

How much weight does an additional 6 foot (1,8 m) wingtip extension and winglet add to the 747-400 wing? NONE! A weight-saving of approximately 5 000 pounds (2 270 kg) was achieved in the wing by using new aluminium alloys, which offset the weight increase of the wing tip extension and winglet.
Redesigned “flexible” cabin interiors not only improve passenger conveniences and appeal, but allow airlines to rearrange seats and class configuration overnight (in 8 hours). They also permit 48 hour conversion times for changes in galley and lavatory locations.
According to one 747 operator, no less than five and half tons of food supplies and more than 50 000 in-flight service items are needed on a typical international flight.
Engine noise from today’s 747-400 is half what it was on the original aeroplanes delivered in 1970.
The 747 has sixteen 49-inch main landing gear tyres and two nose landing gear tyres.

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Is there any way to make Air Travel safer?

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