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

A serious car fault may result in it breaking down in the middle of nowhere or absolute worst case scenario- a fatal accident (don’t get me wrong- that’s awful). A serious plane fault can lead to a $100m plane crashing, killing 190 people onboard and a hell of a lot more collateral damage. It’s a scale thing.

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