evidence: In 2007, the National Transportation Safety Board estimated a total of nearly 24 million flight hours. Of these 24 million hours, 6.84 of every 100,000 flight hours yielded an airplane crash, and 1.19 of every 100,000 yielded a fatal crash. This is down from an all-time high of 9.08 accidents per 100,000 hours in 1994. These numbers are higher for private flights, but private flights are much harder to document due to lax government regulation and non-reporting. Private plane crashes have been on the decline since the 1980s, but user error and insufficient training still contributes to many more accidents than are necessary each year. [...] Compare it to other major forms of transportation – with 0.04 deaths per 100 million miles traveled, train travel is much more dangerous than airplanes’ 0.01 deaths per 100 million miles. However, air travel is only as safe as the operator, the equipment, and the training procedures that underlie the flight itself. Without stringent aviation safety training and controls, air travel is unsafe for private and commercial passengers.