Which particular planes would you rather fly on commerical jets or small aircraft?

Question

Which particular planes would you rather fly on commerical jets or small aircraft?

and why to?

I can add http://www.airdisaster.com/

there have been over 500 commercial jet crashes dealing with big jumbo jets dealing with engines falling off, plane breaking a part, failure all sort of thing you would not even think of that could happen I thought it was safer with smaller planes because they can glide better than the big plane. I want to see what everybody has to say

http://www.youtube.com/user/apapele182

check out this guys video!!!
they are very interesting, some stuff I was shocked to see, because I didn't know such thing could acutally happen. I saw this one where the cockpit windows on a British Airways plane caved in and sucked the pilot on top of the plane. I saw this one where this hawian airlines plane broke, and there was a high percentage of airblast on the ppl inside the cabin. I saw this one where the cargo doors were faulty broke off and hit the engies, all sorts of stuff, check those 2 website out tell me what u think

Answer 1

I much prefer small aircraft.

I don't like the BS associated with flying commercial: hours of security, lost luggage, cramped conditions, getting stuck next to the smelly guy, etc. For cheap, fast flight though, you cannot beat the commercial airlines.

If I had my choice (and the money) I would say private jets are the way to go. They're extremely fast, they can get you closer to your destination (assuming that right next to the large [enough for commercial jets] airport isn't your destination), and there isn't the other crap associated. Of course, this is a pipe dream unless I suddenly win the lottery (without playing).

My big reason for small planes is that I can fly them. If I have the associated time, I would much prefer to take a little longer and spend more money flying myself from here to there. Or, if you have the proper aircraft and enough people, you can even about break even flying yourself (and others). For example, my father and 3 others recently flew to Key West. They made the trip in 6.5 hrs down and 7 hr back. By the time you screwed around with driving to the airport, going through security, and any layovers, you would probably be pretty close to the same amount of time, despite the jet's much higher travel speed. Their fuel costs were about $1000 for the flight, which divided by 4 people two ways isn't too much higher than an airline ticket. So, even sometimes flying yourself can be economical.

Answer 2

When you say fly on, I guess you mean be a passenger. There is no question I would much prefer to fly commerical over flying in a small plane as a passenger. Commercial aircraft generally better weather capability, performance, and crew training. When you fly on a small plane, you put you life in the hands of someone who's qualifications to fly and airplane can be marginal, and who have not had enough experience to make the proper decision at times (not to fly at all).

I cannot see any private pilot who would rather fly a nasty IFR approach, single pilot, in a Cessna 182 over flying the same approach as a passenger with a professional crew who trains all the time to make that type of approach, in an airplane that is designed to fly in really bad weather. Even then you will see commerical flights canceled for weather.

If I can fly the small aircraft myself, then yes, that will be the choice almost all the time. If for some reason, there was a total loss of power (much, much more likely on a small single engine aircraft as compared to a multi-engine commerical aircraft), the small airplane is where you would want to be. With a good pilot, it would be very rare not to survive an engine failure in a small aircraft. Notice I said good pilot. There have been more than a few perfectly flying small aircraft contact the ground in uncontrolled flight after an engine failure. An aircraft does not need an engine for controlled flight. Loss of aircraft control in an emergency landing, would be fatal almost 100% of the time.

If you gotta crash, hit the softest, cheapest thing you can find with the aircraft still flying under your control, at the lowest speed that positive control of the aircraft can be maintained.

Answer 3

Statistically, the big aircraft are safer and have more experienced crews. There are numerous backup systems as well. Yeah there have been some well publicized incidents about airliners crashing and falling apart but most of the accidents involving small planes only make the local newspapers. I make my living off of putting together other peoples mistakes in small aircraft.

The glide ratio of a typical airliner is about 17:1 compared to a small aircraft about 7:1 so that argument doesn't work very well. Even though small aircraft have more choice of where they can set down; most of the total engine failures in airliners resulted in on-airport landings with no hull-loss or fatalities because they can cover large distances from cruising altitudes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glide_ratio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

Small aircraft are less regulated as far as maintenance goes and are also less capable of handling severe weather.

As far as my preference? I like small aircraft that I fly in VFR weather. For IFR flying and long distances, I like big jets.

Answer 4

As a former employee of United Airlines, I can say that I hate flying commercial. The planes are crowded, the people are usually rude (both passengers and ticket agents), and I could tell you stories that never make the news or those videos. My older brother is a UAL Captain and a fine pilot. He owns 2 WWII era fighter planes fully restored. I love flying in those.

Answer 5

Aviation is still very, very safe when you look at the seat miles traveled.

It is just not very accomodation of the stupid or unprepared.

Almost any jetliner built in the 80's and beyond has a wonderful reputation.

But, like many folks, I prefer Boeing. There is a saying, "if it ain't Boeing, I ain't going".

The late Lockheed L1011 had the best ride characteristics of about any jetliner ever built.

If I get to fly left seat, about anything with wings if fine.

My old Cessna is still hard to beat for fun and reliability. In over 1500 hours of private flying, I have never had a real close call......it is all in the preparation and proficiency of those who fly and take care of airplanes.

Answer 6

There is a lot of miss information out on the World Wide Web and one has to dig through it. So to answer your question what type of flying and purpose is the flight. Getting from point A to B commercial. Flying out for lunch General Aviation small aircraft.

Maybe you haven’t noticed in the United States we don’t have engines falling off of aircraft as we have the highest aviation standards in the world. I believe most of the pictures involve foreign air carriers. Not to mention any names.

Something you should be aware of is the certification rules between commercial airlines vs. general aviation and their aircraft. The smaller aircraft have a different certification rule and a different standards. The commercial guys are held to a higher standard of safety (more rules).

I can say commercial is safer not because I inspect their aircraft more, but because of the higher standards they are required follow in operation and maintenance practices

You can go to the Federal Aviation Administration web site for accident and incident information if you are really concerned. Used the following URL:
http://www.faa.gov/data_statistics/accident_incident/

Accident & Incident Data
Reports
Preliminary Data
Final Data
Accidents: Within the Past 10 Years
Accidents: More than 10-Years Ago
Airline Fatal Accident Rate (PDF)
Aviation Accident Statistical Reports
Aviation Accident Reports and Statistics National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
Office of Accident Investigation
Investigation Policies & Forms
Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS)
Runway Incursion Data and Statistics
Comair 5191 Accident Air Traffic Control (ATC) Tapes


Commercial Airline Fatal Accident Rate
Description
Limit the three-year rolling average fatal accident rate to 0.010 fatal accidents per 100,000 departures. This target is also referred to as Commercial Air Carrier Fatal Accident rate.

Commentary (03/2007) The FAA goal for the end of FY 2007 is a three-year rolling average of 0.010 fatal accidents per 100,000 departures. The current rate is 0.023 fatal accidents per 100,000 departures. In December 2006, a scheduled part 135 fatal accident occurred in Alaska. It involved a Peninsula Piper PA-32-301 carrying one passenger. Both the passenger and the pilot were killed. The FAA will not achieve this goal this fiscal year, as the best rate they can expect by year-end is 0.020 fatal accidents per 100,000 departures.
Reference Web site for additional information and charts. http://www.faa.gov/about/plans_reports/Performance/quarter_scorecard/media/Airline_Fatal_Accident_Rate.pdf

Answer 7

I fly in both and love them both had a flight lesson in a Cessna 172 made my first perfect landing without scarinbg the instructor lol anyways the reason there are more commercial jet crashes then there are general aviation aircraft is because there are more commercial aircraft then general aviation

Answer 8

My father was a licensed private pilot. He described the glide path of a jet without power as being about the equivalent to the glide path of a dropped rock. At least with a small plane you can crash land at about 35 miles per hour. With a big plane it has to be going about 200 miles per hour just to stay in the air. Small planes... please!

Answer 9

I'd rather fly on private aircraft ANY day. No time limits, bag restrictions, waiting in lines, dealing with the general public, etc.... You get lots of special amenities like awesome catering, drinks, in-flight movies (not just on overseas flights) and personal attention.

You get spoiled!!!!!

Answer 10

I'll take the big aircraft. Not too crazy about all the movement in a small plane.