The answer is: not entirely. Nothing is. Not cars, not trains, not boats, not planes. But we travel nonetheless.

Airline passenger numbers have risen seven-fold since 1972, and the number of flights has tripled.

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And going back even further, to the 1950s when the advent of the Boeing 707 made air travel accessible to the masses, the number of crashes has declined.

Last year's total of 20 accidents was commerical aviation's best year on record.

1948 was the worst year for accidents, with 87 airline crashes.

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More dramatic is the fall in air transport deaths. That's in spite of what seemed like a terrible year for fatalities last year, with Malaysia Airlines losing nearly 600 people in two flights. (The 298 passengers and crew killed on flight MH17 are not shown on the chart because the aircraft was shot down.)

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The Germanwings flight was an A320. Made by Airbus, a European consortium, the plane was certified in 1988 and had three accidents that year.

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While the number of A320 crashes has increased, it is important to note that it is one of the industry's fastest-sellng planes, with more than 6000 now in service. It is also the second-safest commercial jet in service, among plane types with more than one million flights. The safest is the Boeing 757.

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Little will ease the pain of those who lost friends and family in the Germanwings accident, but the statistics of improved aviation safety may be of some comfort for travellers.

Data from the Aviation Safety Network database.