2007 a good year for aviation safety: survey
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
Last year was one of the safest in aviation history, with the lowest number of crashes in almost half a century, an industry watchdog said.
There were 136 serious accidents last year, 28 less than the previous year, the Aircraft Crashes Record Office said. The number is also the lowest since 1963, the Geneva-based organisation said in a statement.
ACRO said 965 people died in plane crashes last year, a drop of 25% from the previous year.
Among the accidents, almost a third occurred in North America with 34 accidents in the US. Asia accounted for 23% of the accidents with five reported in Indonesia. Africa had 14% of the share with Congo accounting for eight accidents.
“No major accident occurred in Europe during 2007 which confirm that this continent is one of the safest in the world,” the statement said.
With 199 fatalities, the crash of a TAM Brasil’s Airbus A320 in Sao Paulo on July 17 was the biggest crash of the year. The crash of a Kenya Airways’ Boeing 737-800 in Douala on May 5 with 114 fatalities and the crash of an Adamair’s Boeing 737-400 off Ujung Pandang on January 1 with 102 fatalities came next.
ACRO records all aviation accidents, including small ones, where the planes are damaged beyond repair. It said most crashes involved small, turboprop or piston engine planes.
Comments are closed.