Eli5: why do plane fleets get grounded after accidents but car fleets remain on the road even though they may have serious issues?

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Outside of a brief aside in the movie Fight Club and what I assume are economic reasons, I’ve never seen good compelling reasons why airplanes are grounded for accidents, while cars do not seem to undergo the same level of scrutiny?

Is it just because cars are tested more before they enter the market?

From an outsider’s perspective, it seems that airplanes are already much safer than cars- so what gives?

In: Engineering

30 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Cars do get “grounded”, look at the number of recalls, Honda right now has 4.5Million vehicles on a recall for fuel pump issues, Toyota just announced a recall and advisory not to even attempt to drive the vehicle. Vehicle recalls happen all the time, its just not as public as airlines. Numbers vs numbers say vehicles get recalled far more frequently that aircraft. Cars get recalled for simple things like floor mats, or key fobs.

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