I think statistics have place, but the numbers may not be accurate for her situation. Does she want to fly to go some place or only for the joy of flying. Those who fly for transportation are more inclined to push weather and mechanical problems. If you just want to fly around a little and enjoy flight then you typically choose a nice day with less wind and better ceilings and visibility, thus reducing risk. But if it is to get to a meeting, or hunting camp, or a family get together then pilots are more inclined to push the weather or minor problems with the airplane. Gethomeitis has killed a lot of pilots. Maybe if she stressed that she just wants to do this because she has always wanted to fly, and really wants to only do it on nice days her family will feel better about it. Then again if that is not the reason she wants to fly then she needs to acknowledge that there is risk involved and explain to them how she plans to reduce the risk as much as possible.

Tim

People need to figure out what they consider dangerous. If you think driving a car is dangerous, then flying is also dangerous. If you think its okay to ride a motorcycle, then flying is safe.

By the numbers, flying may be more dangerous than driving, but I don't think that puts it into the DANGEROUS category.

Additionally, for me, I like being in control. I would guess (I could be wrong, though) that most of those GA accidents were pilot error.

If you don't fly in bad weather and don't run out of fuel, then you just upped your safety by a lot. I can train more, learn more, study more and improve my safety.

Now you can do that somewhat with driving, but many times its someone else hitting you.

Anyway that's my thoughts. It can be tough to convince people who don't understand flying. If they think you fall out of the sky when the engine quits, then it will be hard to convince them its safe.

I'd suggest she join one or more of the women's aviation groups: http://www.wai.org or http://www.ninety-nines.org. I'm sure some of the other women have had similar issues and she'll get support from them and maybe even a scholarship.

When I started to fly, my wife was supportive, but the rest of my family was loathe to the idea I'd be up in a single engine aircraft. I found that sharing the joy it brought me was the most important thing in the early phases. They were worried about me because they cared about me, but they also wanted me to be happy - seeing that flying made me happy as a clam went a long way. Now I'm fortunate that many members of the family have warmed to the idea, watched as I've gained experience, and have enjoyed coming up in the plane. Took a bit of time, and patience, though.