Originally Posted by Braniff
Statistically, that would make it dangerous to fly one now.
This question would be in the realm of probability. Sure, it's dangerous given there's a risk of death, as with any travel...
Originally Posted by CPRich
Pardon my ignorance, but with a 3 or 4 engine plane, how many engines does the plane need to remain in flight? N-1? or fewer? It's been a while since I did Stats, but I'm pretty sure a 4 engine plane is more likely to lose 1 engine than a 2 engine plane, no?
I'm not sure why there should be such a difference... are 4 engine planes better-maintained and are the engines in 4 engine planes more reliable? I bet the answer is no. I view each event as having a set probability of failure given the maintenance, age, etc etc of the engine, not the configuration in which it is used.
Originally Posted by mahasamatman
You can prove (or disprove) anything with statistics.
As I was once told, "You can make the models agree with whatever you're thinking"
