Of course, these same people have no problem getting on board a flimsy aluminium tube surrounded by a hundred tons of jet fuel, right below which is slung - gasp - an open flame!
I agree with your point about the hydrogen fear trigger, but your strawman caricature of the heavier-than-air aircraft industry weakens your argument.
Yeah, I was a bit unfair I guess. Just trying to make a point about people's irrational risk perception - they tend to seize on certain things while ignoring others. I mean christ, the Hindenburg made a big pretty explosion, but there were only 36 fatalities! That's nothing. And yet, 75 years later, oh no can't even think about Hydrogen! It's bullshit.
It's interesting to consider how different the world might be today if the media hadn't caught the Hindenburg disaster in a visual format.