Toward safer skies

The mechanical safety of aircraft has made great strides over the years, allowing some engineers to focus on other aspects of flight safety.

Flying used to be a risky business and occasionally it still can be. But that risk has reduced markedly year after year as the efficacy of design and simulation techniques have advanced; flight-test programs have become increasingly rigorous; and materials, structural, powerplant, and other accessories technologies-from fire suppression to door latching mechanisms-have made huge strides. Also, on-board condition monitoring (real time and recorded) is now a major and reliable contributor to air safety.

The lessons learned during the past 100 years of powered flight mean that flying in the 21st century-and particularly commercial flying-is statistically very much safer than it has ever been. There are, though, areas of technology that present particular challenges, which may be due in part to the very advances in aerospace technologies that make aviation the long distance transport of choice across the world.