Recent Questions and a Comment to AirSafe.com About Loose Screws, Pilot Pay, and Crash Free Airlines

In this new feature from the AirSafe.com News, we will bring to you some of the issues that have been brought up in recent months by the AirSafe.com audience. Some of them will be comments from past articles on this site, others are from questions sent to us by audience members or the media.

Can't Find Airline on Site
Question: Hi Great site. However I can't find any reference to Air Asia or Air Asia X on either the airlines with no fatal incidents or the airlines with fatal incidents page. - Karen

Answer: AirSafe.com covers a wide range of airlines, but the list of airlines without a fatal crash is limited to larger airlines. However, we do add airlines on occasion, and after you contacted us, we have decided to add the larger of the two airlines, AirAsia to the list.

During the review, we found that the lists contained several airlines that are no longer in service, and during the updates for those pages, discovered an overlooked fatal accident from 1999 involving Uni Air. For more on this lost event, visit AirSafe.com's review of 1999 events.

Comment from Article on Missing Screws on a Continental 737
Why is this even "news"? I'm willing to bet there is more than one airliner flying over the 48 states right now that have loose or missing screws. During a preflight walkaround, a cockpit crewmember cannot see the top of the engine pylon. Also, it is not normal practice for maintainence to inspect the aircraft between flights unless there is a good reason. If a passenger or Flight Attendant reports a loose screw to cockpit, then maint. will be notified. There are countless screws on most Boeing jets,and it is not unusual to find them missing or loose during preflight. They are fixed before we fly. - Anonymous
Read the Full Article

The Role of Pilot Pay and Airline Safety
The following question was from a comment to the article How Much Does a Pilot Make?
Question: So, does that (how much a pilot is paid) directly correlate to the level of safety and dadication and your chances of making it to your destination alive or unharmed? - Anonymous
Answer: How much a pilot is paid can be very high or very low depending on the country where an airline flies, the agreement pilots may have with an airline, pilot experience, or even government regulations. However, in the US, Canada, EU, Australia, Japan, and other countries with major airlines, the levels of training and experience for even new airline pilots is quite high, and civil aviation authorities like the FAA have both high standards and the ability to enforce those standards. While pilot judgment has often been a factor in airline accidents, and while better judgment, as well as higher pay, comes with experience, AirSafe.com is not aware of any study or formal finding of any major aviation safety organization that points out any significant connection between pilot pay and the ability of a pilot to fly safely.

Send Us Your Thoughts
We welcome your comments and questions. Feel free to add your comments to any of the articles on this site. You can also contact us at by phone at 408.905.6259, or in writing at the feedback form at feedback.airsafe.org.