If you watched any news at all over the weekend, you heard about the scary events of Christmas Day on the flight to Detroit. Whenever things like this happen, I inevitably get the question: “Are you ever afraid to fly?”  The answer, of course, is yes, sometimes I get a little freaked out about flying. It’s completely natural for some nerves to rise up when you hear about some of the crazy things that happen.

So to make you (and me!) feel better, here is a little reminder of how safe flying is.

• The chances of a driving fatality between New York and Boston are 8.5 times higher than a flying fatality
• In the US, one person dies for every 4 million flights taken–these odds are similar to those of winning the lottery buying only one ticket
• You are more likely to die from stumbling while you walk, an accidental firearms discharge, or suffocating while sleeping in bed than from a plane crash

(from Consumer Warning Network)

So as you can see–flying is still incredibly safe! Far safer than driving, or (apparently) even walking. A little fear is understandable, but don’t let it keep you from seeing your loved ones or doing your job.