Flying - The third most dangerous career !
 

Flight risk - Commercial Pilot flying in the USA Rates third as most dangerous career, How does it rate in Australia I wonder?

Another often owner-operated job -- commercial pilot -- comes in third on the list of the country's most dangerous jobs, with 70 fatalities per 100,000 workers.
Most pilot fatalities come from general aviation; bush pilots, air-taxi pilots, and crop-dusters die at a far higher rate than airline pilots. Again, Alaskan workers skew the profession's data; recent National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) stats indicate that they have a fatality rate four times higher than those in the lower 48.
"Alaskan pilots have a one in eight chance of dying during a 30-year career," says George Conway of NIOSH. "That's huge."
Conway reports that the most common scenario in fatal plane crashes in Alaska is, "controlled flight into terrain." A pilot starts out in good weather then runs into clouds, loses visibility, and flies into a mountainside.
Even though pilots flying small planes have a much higher fatality rate than pilots flying big airline jets, they're not financially compensated for the added danger; non-jet pilots average about $52,000 a year in pay while jetliner pilots make about $92,000.


Only happens in the USA ! I don't think so

52K for a non jet pilot.... I dont think so either

bit more to CFIT than that too....

Gday atpapa

I was amazed when I made enquiries with worksafe regarding the percentage of annual wage for general aviation pilots for workers compensation insurance; the figure was 0.9% against 4.5% for domestic building employees, I think that spells out the risk or the lack of.

Cheers Q

Whatever it was, I bet a steak dinner that it got more dangerous on the 27th of November.

0.9%?
Tell him he's dreamin'.

Try more like 5%.

Last year I wrote down the names of friends, acquaintances or just people I had met briefly over the years, who have been killed while working as a pilot. I came up with 20 names over 20 years - and I am sure there are still some I do not know about.

Most were GA Pilots and the causes ranged from EFATO, running out of fuel, poor decision making and just plain bad luck.

I do not think there are too many professions with that sort of loss - I have asked my non flying friends to think of people they know who have been killed while at work and they are hard pressed to come up with any names.

There but for the grace of god go I......

Farknel

thats why the GA pilots get the big danger money (not)

Taxi drivers? Truckies? Must be heaps more.

Police officers..... now theres a high risk occupation... but I was always led to believe that the shortest life span for any aviation related career was that of a deckky on a flat top.... average length of career 16-21....

Farmers? Mining must be up there as well?

Farknel, I'm 24, been in it Commercially for 5 years and lost 5 friends, acquaintances, to mostly the same reasons and CFIT. Might be a familiar figure for other pilots too as it is a small industry Hate to think what that number might grow to when I'm 64 years old

I heard from a study done in Australia that mining is the number one most dangerous job in Oz.

Risky to the finances, too!
 

The fact is that there is great opportunity to kill yourself even before you even reach your commercial level with the aging training fleets out there and the unscrupulous operators that "cut corners" and do Mr. Fix-It Jobs without calling in a proper LAME and then hoodwinking CASA when they come in on their little inspections. The intimidation from fat, grumpy old CPs, demanding that the job gets done, whatever the risks is prevalent all around Australia. Young boys and girls being put at risk each day...