There is also the direction of runways to bear in mind and how flight paths have evolved and grown as the industry has. As the Lockerbie disaster showed, planes can fall out of the sky as a result of terrorist activity, or as in other tragedies, as a result of technical failure. But as the most dangerous time for any aircraft's journey is the take-off and short time immediately afterwards, it is those people living near airports who are right to feel the most concerned. The people of Bishop's Stortford were able to breathe a sigh of relief after escaping harm when the Korean Air jet crashed. But for a small deviation in the flight path of the aircraft - they may not have escaped so lightly.
Accidents do happen.
But air travel still remains the safest and quickest way of getting from A to B. As for the people who choose to stay on the ground, rather than take to the skies, they must put their trusts in the large number of experts whose job it is to keep planes where they are meant to be - in the air. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Links to other UK stories are at the foot of the page.