Crash of hope?

As news channels continuously aired the crash clippings, with Google maps showing the site of the crash, my daughter asked me a very fundamental question: “Amma, what if we are in a plane and something like this happens to us.”
I was shaken by her thought process, but pretended to be calm. The news channels had successfully sown the seeds of fear in my daughter, and I am sure into many other minds, not just children, on air travel safety. I managed to tell her it was an accident and such things do happen once a while. I could not lie to her that this was just a once-in-a-life event, and that such things would never recur. That would be a lie, and would leave her unprepared for any possible shocks in future. But I know she would think about this tragedy for a long time to come. The fear may fade with time, but will never get erased.
Then the “miraculous” escape of eight passengers aboard the same plane flashed in my mind. I have often told my journalism students that miracles never happened in news stories. So when there is a news item which says three escaped miraculously in a train or car accident, I would ask them to edit out the word ‘miraculously’. I would say, “Just begin with three persons escaped, instead of inserting the word miraculously.” But the Mangalore plane crash and my daughter’s anxiety sent me thinking about miracles. Do they really happen? Does a little prayer help? It is not just about air. Five days back, Naxalites blew up a bus, killing civilians, including children. Two days later, the Naxals destroyed a train track and blew up a few of the tankers. Then, of course, there are signal errors that cause train accidents. So is train travel safe then? Either way we are caught. Air travel or train travel, life has become a gloriously uncertain entity.
I have a habit of thinking about God each time someone I care for leaves the house. I do not say accidents will stop because of that, or my selfish wish that at least those I care for do not become victims. But the prayer gives me the satisfaction of fortifying myself with hope. This might sound bizarre to atheists, but the truth is prayers do make me wish for the best, and in strange situations hope that miracles do help our loved ones. This might sound selfish, but isn’t it true?
I might probably pass on this habit of saying a silent prayer before leaving the house to my daughter. She has asked me multiple times why I say “Durga, Durga’ when someone or we leave the house. I would just say it makes me feel good to call God before leaving the house. When she grows up, I intend telling her that I feel a prayer nurtures optimism, a hope, an anticipation of a miracle in the event of something untoward.
Do pilots pray before take off and thank god after a smooth landing? It is their skill that will ensure safe travel for the passengers. But probably a little prayer to the Pilot Above might just help.