2012 was safest year for air travel
2012 was the best year ever recorded in terms of aviation safety, IATA has revealed.
Last year, the global accident rate was the lowest in aviation history, with only one accident in every five million flights, using Western-built jets. This accident rate of 0.20 marks a 46% improvement over 2011, when the accident rate was 0.37, or one accident for every 2.7 million flights. In fact, the accident rate for the 240+ IATA member airlines last year was zero.
“The industry’s 2012 record safety performance was the best in history,” said IATA’s Director-General & CEO, Tony Tyler, “Each day approximately 100,000 flights arrive safely at their destination. Airlines, airports, air navigation service providers, manufacturers and safety regulators work together to ensure every flight is as safe as possible. Their dedication and cooperation has made air travel remarkably safe. Nevertheless, there is still work to do. Every accident is one too many and each fatality is a human tragedy. The first commercial airline flight took place on 1 January 1914. Since then the very first flight the airline industry has made continuous improvement in safety its top priority.”
Close to three billion people flew safely on 37.5 million flights (29.8m by jet, 7.7m by turboprop) in 2012, with a total of 75 accidents recorded, when taking into account all aircraft types, both Eastern and Western built. This is down from 92 accidents in 2011. Of these, only 15 accidents caused fatalities, versus 22 in 2011. In terms of Western-built jets (mainly Boeing and Airbus aircraft), there were only six accidents in 2012, compared to 11 in 2011, with just three of these proving fatal, compared to five in 2011. Total air crash deaths were down from 486 in 2011 to 414 in 2012.
By region, the Middle East & North Africa (0.0), North America (0.0), and North Asia (0.0) all experienced no accidents involving Western-built jets, while Europe’s accident rate was just 0.15. Latin America & the Caribbean improved to 0.42, but Asia Pacific declined from 0.25 to 0.48. Once again however, Africa’s safety record is in the spotlight, with the region’s accident rate increasing from 3.27 to 3.71. IATA noted however, that its registered airlines in Africa experienced no accidents.
“Africa is a continent divided on performance. Airlines on the IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) registry are performing at or above industry average rates. But the continent’s overall performance is far from satisfactory. It should be as safe to travel by air in Africa as it is in any other part of the world,” said Tyler.
Runway excursions, in which an aircraft overshoots of misses the runway during a landing or take-off, were the most common type of accident in 2012 (28% of total), followed by ‘loss of control in-flight’. Loss of control accidents however, resulted in the most fatalities.