There’s a one-in-a-million chance that planes will crash in mid-air, a leading aviation expert says.
Swinburne University aviation expert Stephen Fankhauser told AAP on Thursday a mid-air aviation collision happens roughly once for every one million flying hours.
“The average across that period is actually less than one a year. That is roughly on the order of just over a million hours per collision,” the university’s Aviation Department Deputy Chair said.
“That is a lot (of hours). It is definitely not likely.”
He was referring to data from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s review of mid-air collisions in Australia between 1961 and 2003.
Four people died on Wednesday after two training flights collided mid-air near Mangalore Airport, in regional Victoria.
“When an air accident like that occurs it is a terrible tragedy. But it isn’t a common occurrence by any means,” Mr Fankhauser said on Thursday.
“It is unfortunate that if you have a mid-air collision the results are likely to be catastrophic.”
The ATSB is investigating what happened.
“Most collisions would normally occur within the vicinity of an aerodrome and in fact, that’s what happened yesterday,” Mr Fankhauser said.
“That is obviously because aircraft converge and depart near aerodromes.”
Flying through cloud is not allowed on visual flight rules, but is on instrument flying, he added.
The onus is on pilots to maintain separation outside the controlled airspace.
AAP
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