April 2, 2023: Flight safety is about more than well-maintained aircraft and competent pilots. There is also the issue about how safe airspace is from man-made obstacles. This is usually in the form of hostile groups on the ground below, some of them equipped with anti-aircraft weapons and bad attitudes. There are also issues with airport security or simply how effective the staff at various airports and ground control operations are. For a long time, there was no easy way to obtain this information. In the last few years, a useful solution appeared in the form of a web-based visual database of the level of risk worldwide. As Internet-based interest groups began to form over the last two decades, several were related to aviation safety issues. This led to the Opsgroup, the largest collection *currently over 7,000 people) with a professional interest in flight safety in the air as well as for aircraft on the ground. This led to the creation of the Safe airspace Conflict Zone and Risk Database website.

This provided a visual display of which nations were not safe to fly over or into. There are three levels of risk used. The most dangerous airspace is in Ukraine and the Middle East. Medium risk nations are largely in Africa, plus Russia. Low risk nations are found mainly in Asia and the Middle East. Click on a country and you get a display of current and recent risk assessments, all written in concise, simple language. English is the accepted common language and that’s what the database uses. That’s why the simplification of the descriptions and language make this the easiest way to find out if the airspace is safe. There is also useful information for pilots and crew about attitudes and amenities at various airports. The data is kept up-to-date and relevant reports from Opsgroup members who are pilots or work on the ground.