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Aviation safety improves
Aviation safety across the world improved last year, according to the latest figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
There were six fatal accidents with 19 fatalities among passengers and crew in 2017, compared with an average of 10.8 fatal accidents and approximately 315 fatalities per year in the previous five-year period.
None of the accidents involved a passenger jet: five involved turboprop aircraft and one involved a cargo jet.
The crash of the cargo jet also lead to the deaths of 35 people on the ground, as well as the crew of the jet.
"2017 was a very good year for aviation safety. Some 4.1 billion travellers flew safely on 41.8 million flights. We saw improvements in nearly all key metrics – globally and in most regions," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO.
But he said the industry was still determined to make air travel even safer.
"In 2017 there were incidents and accidents that we will learn from through the investigation process, just as we will learn from the recent tragedies in Russia and Iran," he said.
"Complementing that knowledge are insights we can gain from the millions of flights that operate safety. Data from these operations is powering the development of predictive analytics that will eventually enable us to eliminate the conditions that can lead to accidents. The industry knows that every fatality is a tragedy. Our common goal is for every flight to take-off and land safely."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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