The whole world There are several problems with the view that everythings glorious. Table l raises an obvious issue: the safety successes of domestic First-World jets are not replicated elsewhere. Jet mortality risk is twice as high on First-World international flights as on domestic flights, and more than twenty times as high on jet flights between the first and Developing Worlds and on Developing World jet flights. One would not gauge progress in a school by the performance of the strongest student we would do something analogous if we stopped reading Table 1 at its first line Table i goes here Moreover. even within the first world it is not foreordained that the recent record will continue to prevail. We grasp this point better if we consider a few specific hazards namely, sabotage and the risk of collisions on the ground and in the air Potential First-World Menaces Sabotage In the 1990s, successful criminal acts against air travelers all but disappeared fron First-World skies. (See Table 2. There was only one incident that caused fatalities three passengers(out of 267)died in an attempted hijacking at Algiers. This overall outcome is all the more remarkable given the record just before the 1990s. In 1987,a disgruntled airline employee caused a Us domestic jet to crash by killing the pilot and co-pilot; in 1988, Pan Am 103 exploded over Lockerbie; in 1989, a bomb destroyed a French DC-10 over Africa. There were no survivors in any of these events Table 2 goes here Fir There are two possible explanations for Table 2. Perhaps the desire to do harm to First-World air travelers genuinely diminished in recent years. Alternatively improved security measures may have deterred otential attacks and foiled others This second explanation is arguably the more comforting, for it implies we would be protected from any future resurgence of malicious intent Unfortunately, there is little basis for assuming a new-found infallibility in First- World security measures. The most advanced equipment and procedures are impressive, but a wide gulf sometimes separates the state-of-the-art and the status quo5 The Whole World There are several problems with the view that “everything’s glorious.” Table 1 raises an obvious issue: the safety successes of domestic First-World jets are not replicated elsewhere. Jet mortality risk is twice as high on First-World international flights as on domestic flights, and more than twenty times as high on jet flights between the First and Developing Worlds and on Developing World jet flights. One would not gauge progress in a school by the performance of the strongest student; we would do something analogous if we stopped reading Table 1 at its first line. Table 1 goes here Moreover, even within the First World, it is not foreordained that the recent record will continue to prevail. We grasp this point better if we consider a few specific hazards, namely, sabotage and the risk of collisions on the ground and in the air. Potential First-World Menaces Sabotage In the 1990’s, successful criminal acts against air travelers all but disappeared from First-World skies. (See Table 2.) There was only one incident that caused fatalities: three passengers (out of 267) died in an attempted hijacking at Algiers. This overall outcome is all the more remarkable given the record just before the 1990’s. In 1987, a disgruntled airline employee caused a US domestic jet to crash by killing the pilot and co-pilot; in 1988, Pan Am 103 exploded over Lockerbie; in 1989, a bomb destroyed a French DC-10 over Africa. There were no survivors in any of these events. Table 2 goes here There are two possible explanations for Table 2. Perhaps the desire to do harm to First-World air travelers genuinely diminished in recent years. Alternatively, improved security measures may have deterred some potential attacks and foiled others. This second explanation is arguably the more comforting, for it implies we would be protected from any future resurgence of malicious intent. Unfortunately, there is little basis for assuming a new-found infallibility in First￾World security measures. The most advanced equipment and procedures are impressive, but a wide gulf sometimes separates the state-of-the-art and the status quo