Three airline crashes, 291 dead, many more left behind to grieve. It is always truly shocking when a plane crashes, but three in less than a month is enough to jar even the most seasoned traveller.

A Tuninter ATR 72 crashed in Sicily, leaving 13 dead and three missing. Luckily there were survivors, and what is even more shocking is that the very aircraft that crashed serviced the Malta route. It turned out that the aircraft’s engines suddenly lost power, forcing the pilot to try and make an emergency landing. Investigations are pointing towards contaminated fuel from Bari, Italy.

In Greece, 115 lost their lives when a Cypriot Boeing 737 plunged into scrubland, killing all passengers and crew in mysterious circumstances. That investigation is pointing towards sudden cabin pressure loss.

The next flight to go down was on Tuesday in Venezuela, a West Caribbean MD-82 enroute to Martinique. The pilot reported engine trouble in one, then another engine and the aircraft crashed into a cattle ranch. It is truly disturbing.

People take air travel for granted, it is touted as the safest form of travel in the world, and it is. Yet, it is always shocking to see a crash because so many people die so terribly, many of them families or young business people. It can happen to any airline. There have been many crashes over the years, with some of the aircraft belonging to the finest upstanding airlines around the world. Crashes can be caused by so many things, mechanical faults, human error, bad weather, icing, clear air turbulence, fuel leaks, frozen fuel, fault de-icers. The causes are endless. Even a bird can cause a plane to crash if it somehow gets sucked into the engine and damage is caused.

Of course, there are always dangers of careless maintenance and overloading to take into account as well. It is not uncommon for cabin crew to ask people to shift their seat to the front or back for take-off and landing because the weight in the hold would not be correctly distributed.

Luckily, Maltese airlines have never had major disasters. We have no doubt at all that Air Malta and British Jet carry out all preventive maintenance and keep aircraft in tip-top condition. Malta International Airport also has a proud record providing quality standards when servicing aircraft.

But one can never be too sure, the expression better safe than sorry springs to mind. Tourism is our lifeblood, an air disaster would be catastrophic to Malta and our airlines. As we have said, we are sure that all local airlines take the best precautions. But air travel is in essence a risky business.

People are flying at 35,000 feet in a small pressurised metal tube with engines on it. Cars conk out, aircraft can too and for no apparent reason. We should not take air safety for granted. It is dangerous and the relevant air carriers must make sure that they minimise all risks as far as humanly possible, and if this means spending more money, then they should and we are convinced they are and will carry on doing so.

The world is all about money in this day and age, yet no price can ever be put on human life.