The Coffin in the Sky

A crew member monitors instruments, in this photo released on June 2, by the French Defense Ministry, during a search mission over the Atlantic.

In the wake of the Air France tragedy, it seems inevitable for the issue of air safety to resurface in some quarters. As an incredibly bad flier (anyone with Nigerian blood should join me, especially in the light of our air travel record), I have always believed that any vessel that can carry hundreds of people and tonnes of luggage and still take off and stay in the air, sometimes for fifteen hours is definitely prone to catastrophic possibilities.

I have actually addressed the issue in one of my previous blogs and received a full length reply from a seasoned pilot who assured me that it was by far the safest mode of travel. His argument, like those of most people who love flying, was that when one considered the amount of people who fly every year and then looked at the percentage of casualties, it was a very low indeed. Well, my reply to him and those who share his views is this; what is the percentage of survival on a crashed aircraft?! This recent tragedy has claimed a 100% and that number has been replicated through the years, with high survival in crashed flights being in the extreme minortiy.

In the end, with all the science and gizmos, air travel is still an unknown sphere for the human mind. I know we have all the so-called experts with their well prepared statements; 'this aircraft is the safest in it's class and we have never had any electrical problems on this plane, blah, blah, blah.' All of it is little relief for the bereaved and hot air to the us bystanders and potential customers.

The truth is the science of planes is not as exact as we are led to believe and whether we accept it or not, it is still a business and irrespective of any tragedies, the money-making has to continue. How else could it be possible, that we are now being told that we may never know the true cause of the Air France flight 447crash? So, no bodies for the relatives, no explanation of the relating circumstances and no effect on the constant stream of people needing to take another plane......hmmmm. What was the greatest trick the Devil played on mankind again?

Air Travel? Could it be the greatest trick man ever played on man?