>I think by definition flying is dangerous, boating is dangerous, crossing the street on foot is dangerous. Dangers can be reduced, they can be minimized, they cannot be eliminated. Failing to acknowledge the danger in certain activities is ostrich like. Your opinion is not shared by any of the professional, or very competent non-professional pilots I have ever met or worked with. Flying is dangerous if a pilot-- through a lack of understanding, ability, fear, incompetence, or, as is usually the case, all of the above--- makes it dangerous for him or her. It is not, on its own, dangerous at all. Every-- and I mean every-- pilot I have met who felt flying is inherently dangerous, was not a very good pilot. Yes, they were good enough to have obtained a license, but licensing standards for flying, as with everything else, establish the minimum standard of qualification. All these pilots had an inherent fear of the plane and the environment ir flew in and believed that a plane could "do something in its own" that would wrest control away from them to the point where the outcome would be a crash. This, if you truly understand airplanes and flying, is not possible. An airplane is not a living thing. Everything it does and every reason it does it is governed by mathematics, physics, aerodynamics, and probably other "...ics" that I have't thought of. 2 + 2 is alway 4. It's never 5 if the rule of mathematics decides on its own to throw you a curve. A plane and flight are no different. The very comment "Failing to acknowledge he danger in certain activities is ostrich like" indicates to me a fundamental lack of understanding of the activity. ____________________ C. Marin Faure GB36-403 "La Perouse" Bellingham, Washington

Snip... I think by definition flying is dangerous, boating is dangerous, crossing the street on foot is dangerous. Dangers can be reduced, they can be minimized, they cannot be eliminated. Failing to acknowledge the danger in certain activities is ostrich like. Marin says Your opinion is not shared by any of the professional, or very competent non-professional pilots I have ever met or worked with. Flying is dangerous if a pilot-- through a lack of understanding, ability, fear, incompetence, or, as is usually the case, all of the above--- makes it dangerous for him or her. It is not, on its own, dangerous at all. Every-- and I mean every-- pilot I have met who felt flying is inherently dangerous, was not a very good pilot. Marin, blanket statements like yours are a real reach. I flew professionally for the Navy off of carriers and it IS INHERENTLY DANGEROUS. We reduce the risk as much as possible to make it a reasonable thing to do but it remains dangerous. To make such a statement (and then qualify it by saying that if they do think it then they are not very good) is plain hubris. Perhaps some of the pilots you met or worked with were not completely honest with you, or maybe they were airline pilots. In my own opinion...if a fair percentage of people can DIE doing an activity then it might be classed as inherently dangerous. So comparing the number of people dying while boating and the number of people boating I'd say boating falls into that category for me...so I take all precautions I reasonably can to reduce the risk. Joel Wilkins m/s Miss Magoo Columbia 45 S. Pasadena, FL