Is it not all a question of degree of risk? The aircraft is perfectly safe. In fact it's combination of structural integrity and its primary/secondary flying controls interoperation and power supplies are second to none. What it lacks is the safety features deemed necessary in a modern aircraft - floor lighting as an example. In the same way that modern cars all have airbags for instance, would you let your family go for a trip in a car that didn't have them? I suspect most of us would, acknowledging that the risk factor increase is limited. The military accepts the increased risk factor, in the same way that it accepts that troops in the back of a four tonner have no seat belts or airbags. Please don't think the old girl is unsafe, in many ways she is better off than many newer aircraft!