With all the recent headlines about panels and tires falling off planes, is flying safe?

By DAVID KOENIG
AP Airlines Writer

DALLAS (AP) — It’s been 15 years since the last fatal crash of a U.S. airliner, but you wouldn’t know that from a torrent of flight problems that made news in the last three months. There was a time when things like cracked windshields and minor engine problems didn’t typically receive media coverage. That changed when a panel plugging the space reserved for an unused emergency door blew off an Alaska Airlines jetliner in January. Concern about air safety, especially with Boeing planes, hasn’t let up since. U.S. airline executives want to hear how Boeing plans to fix problems with its 737 Max jets. So is flying getting more dangerous? By the roughest measurement, the answer is no.