Plane Crashes

In the past two days, I've seen news about two plane crashes, one in Cypurs and another in Venezuela. Just like that 270 people are dead, yet the airline industry continues flying. NASA experiences two shuttle explosions in 30 years but they ground the program to spend billions to fix the problems. Well, NASA has flown fewer than 150 flights (30 for Discovery is the most for one shuttle), and a single airport can send out that many in a day. Therefore, the probability of being in a plane crash is still much lower than a shuttle crash. Either method of transport is relatively safe, though. You just don't have a very good chance of survival in a shuttle crash.

Jet mechanics work on more planes and see a large variety of problems. If they don't fix it perfectly, the plane can probably still make it to it's destination to be looked over again. With a shuttle, mechanics work with theoretical problems and fixes. They'd prefer nothing goes wrong so they don't have to try their repairs. It would be nice to see private companies creating new space transport vehicles. NASA created the shuttle in the 70's and merely modified portions of it to adapt to their current needs. It is time for a massive overhaul. History of planes show their advances from the single engine prop plane, biplane, seaplane, and multiple prop plane to the jet plane, massive 747s and A380s, and Concordes.

How my thought progression moved from two plane crashes to rebuilding the space shuttle, I'll never quite understand. But I find it amazing that people are intrigued by every plane crash. (With shuttles it's understandable.) No one ever says, "I thought that problem was supposed to be fixed by those million dollar repairs." Yet officials study the information from the flight's black boxes. Boeing and Airbus continue manufacturing planes to satisfy airlines' demands because people keep wanting to fly. NASA is so worried about their limited (but billion dollar) problems, but people keep flocking to the airports even after the news reports the latest crash. You know what, it's not going to stop me from flying, either.