Earlier this year representatives from the industry complained about the “Paris Hilton effect,” the popular perception that private jets are playthings for the spoiled rather than essential business tools. It looks like that problem may be on its way to being solved. Heiress, socialite and “actress” Paris Hilton has taken a vow to “never fly in a small plane again,” after her celebrity friends, musicians Travis Barker and Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein, narrowly escaped death following a plane crash in September.

Barker and Goldstein were the only survivors when their Learjet 60 bound for Los Angeles crashed on takeoff from Columbia Metropolitan Airport in Columbia, S.C. Four others, including the plane’s pilots perished in the crash. Cockpit voice recorders show that the pilots believed one of the plane’s tires had blown as the jet sped down the runway. Barker and Goldstein, who each suffered substantial burns, have been released from hospital.

Hilton told TeenHollywood.com, “I couldn’t believe it … I’m scared to go on small airplanes now … I’ve been on that sort of plane and now I’ll never go one again.” We suppose that it wouldn’t help to tell Hilton that the Learjet 60 has, apart from last month’s incident, an admirable safety record. The blown tire which the National Transportation Safety Board believes caused the crash could happen to any aircraft, regardless of size. And of course, private aviation is still significantly safer than driving drunk down the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, as Hilton did in 2006.