Airport runways more dangerous than flying
Aircraft from Indigo (L), Air India (C) and Spicejet (R) jostle for space on a runway at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on July 13, 2011.
Some bad news for frequent fliers: airport runways are more dangerous than actually flying, according to The New York Times.
The report said since 2008, there are on average three incidents daily, or 1,000 a year, in which a plane or other vehicle mistakenly gets on a runway.
The report was not all bad news, however.
Recent technological advances have reduced the number of accidents in the air such as crashes "into mountains and other obstacles, two of the most common causes of accidents," the Times reported.
“These incidents remind us how vulnerable we are when procedures or people fail,” Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, told the Times.
USA TODAY said the news comes as the NTSB reviews two close calls at runways at Chicago's O'Hare airport, the second-busiest airport in the United States.
According to the NTSB, two major jets came "within a few hundred feet of each other" in separate incidents in May and August 2011.
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