Vigilance needed but flying still very safe
On Christmas Day we were about 50 metres deep into the Great Pyramid in Egypt – not a glazed ham or scorched almond in sight. The only season’s greetings were from hawkers outside trying to make a scarf sale or tout their camel rides.
But if we weren’t going to be in New Zealand with family and friends, we thought this day at the only surviving of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World would certainly be one to remember.
Tourists were returning to Egypt after the lean years following political upheaval and revolution. There was a police presence and security checks, which we got used to. We felt safe. Others were not so lucky.
On the night of December 28, a bus heading to the same pyramids for the evening sound and light show was blown up with an improvised explosive, which killed three Vietnamese tourists and an Egyptian tour guide.
By the time the news reached us, we were 10 hours up the Nile and seemed to always have a police escort in our shadow, or be lining up at another checkpoint.
Before I heard about the attack, I thought it was all a bit much, but now I realise vigilance is a necessary part of everyday life in Egypt.
The combination of constant checks, the messages from back home inquiring about our safety and the headlines of death and destruction, can make you over-estimate the relative safety of a destination or activity. And, at times like this, it warrants repeating.
Death at the hands of terrorists, a plane crash or tourist misadventure remains incredibly uncommon – and this is why they generated headlines when attacks did happen last year in places as varied as Cairo, Strasbourg and Pittsburg.
Although terrorist acts have become an unwelcome fixture in the world today, they affect a minuscule number of tourists.
This same pinch of salt needs taking after reading the shrill headlines that appear with each tragic plane crash. Granted, in 2018 there was an increase in aviation disaster deaths to 556 from 15 accidents for the year. However, the death rate works out at something close to 0.00001 per cent, given the number of global air passenger journeys and, on that basis, is far less likely to be your cause of death than a car crash.
So, avoiding air travel for safety reasons because of high-profile tragedies such as the Lion Air crash in October would be a severe overcorrection. That’s because the other 4.5 billion passengers’ journeys globally last year were largely successful (save for some lost baggage, broken headphones and weather delays), and you don’t usually hear about them.
Families, authorities and the media are right to ask questions and demand answers from companies that breach their duty of care, and whose incompetence, under-investment, bad luck or poor decisions costs lives.
But away from the emotional press conferences and angry editorials, technology and regulations are making flying safer while the two-decade fatality average is on a long-term downward trend.
Avoiding air travel for safety reasons due to high-profile tragedies such as the Lion Air crash in October would be a severe over-correction.