Should someone say the HaGomel blessing after taking an airplane flight? I seem to remember this being the practice, but honestly the average commercial airplane flight these days is 10 times safer than driving to the supermarket...
Answer
There are various Halachic opinions on this subject. This article by Rabbi Doniel Neustadt (pg. 3-4) sums up the various opinions very nicely (see footnotes there for names):
1) It is doubtful whether ha-gomel may be recited, unless a potentially dangerous situation developed during the flight.
2) Ha-gomel is recited only when the airplane crossed over an ocean or a desert.
3) Ha-gomel is recited after every airplane trip.
He then goes on to say that the general custom today follows #2 above.
I also saw that R' Moshe Feinstein zt"l held that one should only say Hagomel on the return trip (if the trip is less than 30 days). The exception to this is if one is traveling to visit Israel, where Ha-gomel should be said after both directions (i.e. after landing in Israel, and then after landing back in America). (taken from here pg. 2-3)
For a practical decision, please see a Rabbi.
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