Letter: Miles to go before we crash

IN 'The sea must be governed' (2 October) you wrote that statistically, flying is by far the safest form of transport.

Public relations people have persuaded us that deaths per passenger mile are the criterion, yet what we want is a safe journey, not safe miles.

Moreover, nearly all fatalities occur at take-off and landing; in between, auto-pilots are free from human error, and never fall asleep.

The criterion, if applied to passenger lifts, would show on average that a lift in the tallest skyscraper would be the safest even in free fall - for passing the most floors before the crash.

And, of course, 'statistically' there is never more than one bomb on any aircraft flight, so to play safe you pack one of your own.

Peter Hill

Tanworth-in-Arden