MYSTERY IN THE SKY - WTF? - MH370 & MH17 & QZ8501 & More

[HairOfTheDog]

Airlines fly over conflict/war zones all the time

Yeah, I discovered that when I was reading about this particular case. I was so surprised. I must be somewhat naive in regards to this, I'm thinking if there's danger and even the slightest chance then the area should be avoided altogether and it's just not that way at all.

I don't think it's naive. I'd bet most people don't know exactly what's going down on all of the ground beneath the airspace that they're traveling through on international flights.

Passengers rely on the airlines for safety. The airlines rely on the aviation and regulatory authorities. It works, with very very very few exceptions.

Here's a chart of all of the airlines that were still flying the same route as MH17, along with the number of flights that each had sent on that route in the week preceding the attack.



It was published in German Spiegel and republished with commentary in The Atlantic.