What happens to your luggage if you survive a plane crash?

Be sure to leave your paintings and priceless manuscripts at home

Asiana
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Despite three high-profile plane crashes in the last month alone, your odds of dying in an aerial mishap are very, very low — about 11 million to 1. To be clear, you're more likely to perish by lightning strike, or from an infection stoked by flesh-eating bacteria.

And even if your plane is one of the unlucky few to suffer a freak accident, the survival rate for passengers once the aircraft hits the ground tips squarely in your favor: About 95 percent, according to statistics from the National Transportation Safety Board.

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Chris Gayomali is the science and technology editor for TheWeek.com. Previously, he was a tech reporter at TIME. His work has also appeared in Men's Journal, Esquire, and The Atlantic, among other places. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.