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0 pointsAlex391711y ago0 comments

The NYC helicopters in general have a terrible track record. There are constantly articles about them crashing into the rivers, into buildings, into other helicopters or planes, etc. Someone else in the thread posted an article about how the overall helicopter fatality rate compares with the car fatality rate, and while it's hard to say for certain, it doesn't look promising.

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rpmcb11y ago

I'd be interested in sources for these claims. Lots of hyperbole in this comment.

Alex3917OP11y ago

7 crashes between 1995 - 2011, and that's only into the same two rivers.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/helicopter-crash-timelin...

downandout11y ago

Is that bad though? I'm guessing there are at least hundreds of thousands of helicopter flights in New York annually. ~1 accident per year doesn't sound very dangerous to me.

As for the concept, it's Uber for helicopters. As long as there is a need (I don't and would never live in New York so I have no idea what the demand for this is) then it may very well be successful.

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ybalkind11y ago

An anecdotal source this - but a family friend of ours is a senior pilot for a well known international airline and a former air-force pilot. He also owns and fly's a microlight in his spare time. Recently my father took a helicopter flight and when this family friend heard about it he was absolutely livid at my father for risking his life and made my father swear to never fly a helicopter again.

coldtea11y ago

>Recently my father took a helicopter flight and when this family friend heard about it he was absolutely livid at my father for risking his life and made my father swear to never fly a helicopter again.

Could just mean that pilots can be irrational too.

coldtea11y ago

Once I run the numbers for air travel fatality rates, as compared to car fatality rates but talking into account miles travelled for both (and number of passengers etc), and, assuming I was correct, they came out pretty close.

llimllib11y ago

According to wiki, autos are more than an order of magnitude more dangerous per mile:

                                       Air      Car
    Miles driven                        40      450
    Risk (millionths)                 0.60     6.75

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_safety_in_the_U...

edit: that was a shallow misreading of the data. But the end concludes that air travel is roughly slightly less than an order of magnitude safer.

drzaiusapelord11y ago

Per mile is a weird metric, isn't it? It just seems to favor aircraft that travel so much farther.

Per trip would be interesting Not to mention, a minor crash or serious failure in a car is usually a walk away event. A minor crash or serious failure in a plane or chopper is usually fatal. Its okay if my car breaks down on the interstate. Its not okay if my plane does over the ocean, like Air France 447.

I'm not saying air travel is unsafe. I just think we're selling the point incorrectly.

danielweber11y ago

90% of the risk in airplane travel is the takeoffs and landings, not the miles travelled. IIRC it came out to each airplane trip was as dangerous as ~30 miles of driving, meaning any trip that is normally offered by an airline is noticeably safer.

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rpmcb11y ago

I'd be interested in sources for these claims. Lots of hyperbole in this comment.

Alex3917OP11y ago

7 crashes between 1995 - 2011, and that's only into the same two rivers.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/helicopter-crash-timelin...

downandout11y ago

Is that bad though? I'm guessing there are at least hundreds of thousands of helicopter flights in New York annually. ~1 accident per year doesn't sound very dangerous to me.

As for the concept, it's Uber for helicopters. As long as there is a need (I don't and would never live in New York so I have no idea what the demand for this is) then it may very well be successful.

1 more reply

ybalkind11y ago

coldtea11y ago

Could just mean that pilots can be irrational too.

coldtea11y ago

llimllib11y ago

According to wiki, autos are more than an order of magnitude more dangerous per mile:

                                       Air      Car
    Miles driven                        40      450
    Risk (millionths)                 0.60     6.75

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_safety_in_the_U...

edit: that was a shallow misreading of the data. But the end concludes that air travel is roughly slightly less than an order of magnitude safer.

drzaiusapelord11y ago

Per mile is a weird metric, isn't it? It just seems to favor aircraft that travel so much farther.

I'm not saying air travel is unsafe. I just think we're selling the point incorrectly.

danielweber11y ago

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