SLFStuckInTheBack: My background is also in mathematics/statistics/economics. One's probability of dying from any cause over a year is 6.37 per 1000 for persons between 45 and 54 years of age. Mortality in modern passenger flight is about 1 in 5 million. Thus you are about 31850 times more likely to die from some other cause over the year than a flight accident. Even if you fly 100 times a year, your likelihood of dying from other causes is 318.5 times as large as in a plane crash.
I, for one, don't give the choice of Boeing vs. Airbus, 2 engines vs. 4 engines a second thought from a safety concern when flying. As barit1 points out, so many other things are much more risky.