Why are there so many plane crashes in 2008?

Question

Just with in this month!

August 24 Plane crash in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

August 24, 2008 Time: 09:40

Location: Near Cabañas, Guatemala

August 22, 2008 Time: 18:15

Location: Canyonlands Field, Utah

August 20, 2008 Time: 14:45

Location: Madrid, Spain

August 13, 2008 Time: 07:30

Location: K-50 Airport, Somalia

August 9, 2008

Location: Ndundu, Indonesia

August 6, 2008 Time: 11:40

Location: Sunat Tanon, Thailand

August 5, 2008 Time: 19:30

Location: Near Junction City, California

August 3, 2008 Time: c 07:00

Location: North Vancouver Island, British Colombia, Canada

Answer 1

There are accidents every day, there always have been (since the time flight became a major part of day to day life) and there always will be.  

There are two big contributing factors. First of all, there are more planes flying now then there ever have been. Think of it in terms of cars. If there are more cars on the road will there be more accidents? Yes there will be. But while there is a larger number of accidents, the rate of accidents per flight hour is the lowest it has ever been, look at the ntsb report here http://www.ntsb.gov/aviation/stats.htm

The other large contributing factor is the media. What makes a better story than people dying? And then if you can come up with a theme of ways people die, the reporters have struck gold. There really aren't any more accidents than there were before, we're just hearing about all of them because thats what the media is stuck on this month.

It is true that many airliners are reaching the end of their service life, and that does contribute to the accident rate, but that is not anything new, foreign airlines have been flying old aircraft for years with more or less the same results.  

Answer 2

coincidence only. its not the first time a year has yielded so many accidents

also, lots of planes are nearing the end of their useful life as airplanes. Planes from the 70s and early 80s are getting too old to be safe and are being retired. (not to mention more and more planes big and small, private and commercial are flying)

i seriously doubt its because of weather. more because of eg of the aircraft and lax regulations. notice not many of them are within FAA jurisdiction

Answer 3

An unfortunate set of coincidences.

RIP to everybody that has been killed, and everyones thoughts are with their families.

Answer 4

i think its because of bad weather conditions ,or this year is a bad luck for the aircraft industry as they r having many losses around the world .it can also because of sudden weather changes due to global worming .any thing it can be.  

Answer 5

terrorists

Answer 6

The volume of air travel is increasing dramatically worldwide, especially in developing countries.  This means that the number of accidents will increase, even if the actual percentage of flights that crash (which is very low) does not change.

Another factor, however, is the lower aviation safety standards of developing nations, which represent a large part of the current growth in aviation as they become more affluent.  Maintenance is much more haphazard and pilots and controllers are significantly less qualified.  The risks of air travel are many times higher in Africa than they are in Europe or the U.S.  Some African carriers are even banned in Europe because they are so unsafe.

The accident rates for small general-aviation aircraft are always higher than for airlines.  Commercial travel on major airlines and on scheduled flights in the developed world is extraordinarily safe, but the same cannot be said for small private aircraft or Third World airlines.  Flying in a small private aircraft is about as dangerous as riding a motorcycle, depending on the skill of the pilot and the condition of the aircraft.  That's still an acceptable risk for many people, but it's a hundred times greater than the very low risk of flying, say, on a major U.S. airline.