How safe is it?

General aviation and “those little airplanes” (as some may call them) are as safe as any other mode of travel, if not safer. Pilots and passengers do not use parachutes because airplanes and helicopters do not fall from the sky when their engines stop. An aircraft without an engine – even if it’s supposed to have one – is a glider, capable of descending safely to a landing. Every student’s training covers how to fly safely and how to deal with the extremely rare actual emergencies.