Is Flying Safer Than Driving?

The first aviation fatality occurred on this day in 1908, when army lieutenant Thomas Selfridge perished as a passenger during a flying demonstration put on by Orville Wright in Virginia. A few improvements have been made. Calculating fatalities on a per-mile basis, the most dangerous part of air travel is getting to the airport. For flying to become as risky as driving in the United States, a packed commercial jet would have to go down once a month, yet that actually happens only about once every two years.

• How Planes Fly
• Urban Legends Debunked
• Today in History