Illness link"We believe that these falling oxygen levels, together with factors such as dehydration, immobility and low humidity, could contribute to illness during and after flights," she said. "This has become a greater problem in recent years as modern aeroplanes are able to cruise at much higher altitudes." Dr Humphreys said oxygen deficiency can result in impaired mental performance and shortness of breath. It can also worsen conditions such as angina and breathing problems. Experts believe that a significant number of passengers travel with medical conditions that could put them at risk. Farrol Kahn, of the Aviation Health Institute, a medical research charity promoting better health for passengers, said surveys show that around 10 per cent of travellers are unfit to fly. "Oxygen reduction particularly affects people with pre-existing conditions, the old and very young, as infants can get into difficulty if they have insufficiently developed lungs," he said. "Economies play a role because if the altitude pressure is routinely changed on existing aircraft it cuts their working life. "But passengers can ask for extra oxygen to be supplied to a section of the cabin and cylinders are available for giving individuals supplementary oxygen." Mr Kahn said travellers with cardiovascular disease or respiratory diseases such as bronchitis and asthma should have preflight checks, along with the over-50s, to ensure they were fit to fly. "The conditions on board, especially long-haul flights, put special stress on essential organs such as heart and brain," he added. "At the Institute we provide medical advice to GPs who are concerned about whether a patient can fly after a stroke, for example." Mr Kahn said ventilation was cut on some flights to save fuel and, by making passengers sleepy, cut down on extra services needed on board. A report on the risks of flying from the House of Lords select committee on science and technology said there should be display cards at every ticket sale point and in every doctor's surgery asking intending passengers: "Are you fit to fly?" 2.1 Discuss what can be done to help yourself and other passengers at risk. 4. Comment on the following statement made by William Gaillard, spokesman for the international air transport association on September 15, 2001 for The Times: The terror attack on the US has changed the face of air travel for ever. Passengers must now be prepared for longer check-in queues, body searches and interrogations. Since the Lockerbie bombing in 1988, we have been obsessed with explosives – now we must deal with kamikazes who use sophisticated technology.
7. Read this article. Sum it up in 6-8 sentences. Use the topical vocabulary from the box. Answer the title question. IS IT STILL SAFE TO FLY? Elenor Glove, Mail online 25th August 2005
More than 300 hundred people have died in four separate air accidents around the world in the past month alone. In the wake of the tragedies in Greece, Peru, Venezuela and Sicily are the skies becoming more dangerous? Investigators are still struggling to identify the frozen and charred bodies of the 121 crew and passengers on board a Helios flight that slammed into a mountainside in Greece earlier this month. The plane, described as a "flying tomb", flew on autopilot for 90 minutes after it suffered a catastrophic failure of cabin pressure, causing temperatures to plummet and possibly freezing all of those on board. This tragedy comes in the same month as air crashes in Peru, Canada, Venezuela and Sicily cost many more lives. The dramatic flurry of accidents has led the EU transport commissioner, Jacques Barite, to demand a blacklist of airlines that fail to meet basic safety requirements to be made available to the public. Is there genuine cause for concern? On average there are 41 fatal air accidents each year but there have already been 36 in 2005 and it is only August. However, experts say we should not be too alarmed. Kieran Daly, editor of Air Transport Intelligence, said: "Figures do show that accidents do come in clusters. But the incidents we have had in the last few days are spread around the world and there seems to be very little common cause." When it comes to getting from A to B air travel is still the safest form of transport insists the International Civil Aviation Organisation. In fact, you are more likely to be struck by a meteor than to be in an aircraft accident. Last year was the safest year ever in air transport history. There were three fatal accidents per million flights in 1979, compared with one fatal accident per two million flights last year. 'British safety second to none' The recent air accidents have caused unease among travellers but the British airline pilots' union Balpa has reassured passengers that UK aviation safety is "second to none". Balpa chairman Captain Mervyn Granshaw said: "Understandably, at this time, some people are worried about flying, with three separate incidents in recent weeks. But in Britain we have the most stringent tests and regulation, of both aircraft and flight crew. So if the overall accident rate is still reassuring, what about individual aircraft? The Helios and Peru accidents have raised questions about the safety of Boeing 737 aircraft - the best-selling commercial aircraft ever made. Yet the 737 is still has a good safety record, with only 108 serious accidents in 232 million flights. However, as the recent air crashes have highlighted, there is still some risk involved when it comes to flying so what can you do to keep yourself safe?
There is already a large amount of information available to the public regarding airline safety records on websites such as www.aviation-safety.net.
As the majority of accidents occur on either take-off or landing try to minimise risk by flying direct to your destination.
They come under just as strict regulations as other operators, so are no less safe. The two leading budget airlines in Europe, Ryanair and Easyjet, have flawless safety records.
Aircraft with more than 30 passenger seats come under more stringent safety checks than smaller planes and passengers are more likely to survive an accident in a larger aircraft.
You may think you have heard the safety briefing a million times before but they are not all the same and the information would be vital in the event of an accident. Keep your seatbelt on when seated at all times.
It makes little difference to survival, apart from in accidents during approach and landing where the rear of the plane is slightly safer.
10. Render the article in English. Present the main ideas.
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