Commercial Airliners and The Media
Commercial airliners fly very high, very fast, and very efficiently. Given their extreme height and speed, many people are fearful of flying. There is a common myth in North America that commercial airliners are dangerous, but this is far from the truth.The public view aircraft as extreme, as something they have no control over. This is different from the way the public regards, for example, automobiles. It is human nature for people to want to have full control. They feel safer, because they are actually controlling the car. Also, the fact that airplanes fly at extreme heights makes it difficult for the public to understand how safe they can be. The fact is that you are more likely to die or get injured just driving to the airport, compared with flying on an airplane. As John Marder said, "The chances of you dying up there on that airplane are so low, you had a better chance of dying in your fancy BMW on the way over here." (Crichton 223). The media can generate unnecessary concern by re
porting only the accidents, and not reporting the outstanding safety record airliners usually have. No matter how good the aircraft is, even if it has been working flawlessly for fifty years, the media can report one bad incident, and the public will fear flying in this aircraft forever. Because of this, the aircraft manufacturer will have to stop making a perfectly good aircraft. As Casey Singleton said in Airframe, "That was the first time bad media has destroyed a good aircraft." (Chricton 111). Airplane manufacturers struggle with this problem everyday. If airline companies like Northwest or Delta install parts incorrectly because, for example, they do not follow manufacturer's instructions, or buy parts from counterfeit manufacturers to save a few dollars, this makes airplanes unreliable and a potential danger to passengers. This is not the fault of the aircraft manufacturer, yet if something were to go wrong with the airplane, the manufacturer would be the first one blamed. "Fan blades broke off the rot
Some common words found in the essay are:
Norton Aircraft, Northwest Delta, North America, BMW Crichton, BMW Cricthon, Singleton Airframe, , John Marder, America I'd, wrong airplane, appropriate response, norton aircraft, commercial airliners, aircraft manufacturer,
Approximate Word count = 684
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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