Early aviation had a dismal safety record. Most pilots died young, after only a year or two of flying. Fast forward to the early airliners—they had just as many problems, with crafts going down in bad weather or over dangerous terrain. Many lives were lost, but we didn’t ground all the aircraft and turn our backs on flying. Instead, we recognized that if we made air travel reliable and relatively safe, it would add immeasurably to the human experience.
