Parque Nacional

Apart from the extreme example of manned space missions, air travel is probably the most heavily monitored and regulated mode of transport on earth. Although statistics show that most people suffer serious and fatal injury as a result of motoring accidents, this is because at any one time, there are far, far more people on the roads than there are in the middle of an airplane journey.
Safety in aviation unsurprisingly attracts much more attention because the dangers are more obvious and, when something does go wrong, the effects can be disastrous and headline grabbing especially if an accident occurs over a heavily built up area.
It goes without saying therefore that those involved at the sharp end like airline pilots and air traffic controllers have to go through stringent selection procedures to make sure that they have the right temperament for the job well before they even start technical training.
Sadly for them but sensibly for the rest of us, it’s largely a case of many being called but only a few being chosen. Yet, like an army on operations, the frontline troops who make it through the selection process have huge back-up behind the scenes.
In the UK, most of this back-up is provided by the CAA, the Civil Aviation Authority and passengers using air travel are effectively in their hands from the minute they arrive at the airport to the minute they leave it after their return. This almost comprehensive responsibility is not purely concerned with the airworthiness of aircraft and their crew. The organisation also runs the ATOL scheme which ensures that passengers can get home in the event of an airline suffering financial collapse.
The effort that goes into maximising passenger safety is based on the cumulative experience and knowledge gained from the circumstances causing past accidents.The result is that only 130 air accidents were recorded worldwide in 2010 compared with 200 in 2001when there were significantly less flights made and passengers carried.
Here in the UK, the CAA is widely regarded as one of the best regulators in the world and it is frequently consulted by its younger counterparts overseas. Over the years it has built up a rigorous roster of checks involving the medical condition of pilots and flight engineers, the qualifications of aircrew, air traffic controllers and maintenance engineers and the state of the country’s airports.
It looks into everything from the flight simulators used to train pilots, potentially dangerous goods carried as luggage or freight and what it likes to call ” Human Factors”. These include things like pilots being affected by stress and fatigue or unruly behaviour by passengers.
Away from large-scale commercial aviation, the CAA is also responsible for such esoteric areas as flying displays, civilian parachuting, hot air balloons and airships.