I am one of those people who is afraid of heights including flying. I fly because I have no other reasonable choice but wherever I can, I take the bus or train. I keep track of airline safety records and of air crashes and try to choose to travel in planes based on their good track record. I know this is ridiculous. One cannot avoid bad things altogether. A plane with the best record could have a bad day. But I make my bets on good record.
Hearing about the Q400 Turboprop jets also known as Dash 8 landing problems and near misses does not give me confidence at all. I will not take one of these planes to go anywhere. It is for this reason I do not travel on charter planes. I understand that these are older planes that are over-hauled and sold to vacation companies.
The Scandinavian Airlines has cancelled its contract with Bombardier to buy 27 of these planes because passengers do not have confidence in them anymore.
I think the customer should be vigilant when it comes to flying to ensure that they get the best plane and pilot to carry them up in the air.
Luckily no life was lost in these landing crashes but the fear in the hearts of many of the passengers will remain for a long time.
Bombardier stands behind the Q400. Where else would they stand? They invested a lot of money in these planes and they are not about to wash it down the drain and admit there is a terrible manufacturing problem with them. Instead of standing by these planes they should commit themselves to pull all these planes out of the skies and go over the manufacturing details so as not to risk the lives of innocent travellers.
As for me I will not venture into the Q400 aka Dash 8.
Do you research the airlines in which you travel? If you are going on a boat cruise do you research the company? I urge you to do and not leave things up to chance.