Aircraft accident rates drops in 2009 – IATA
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Montreal – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the aviation safety performance for 2009 showing that the year’s accident rate for Western-built jet aircraft as the second lowest in aviation history.
The 2009 global accident rate (measured in hull losses per million flights of Western-built jet aircraft) was 0.71. That is equal to one accident for every 1.4 million flights. This is a significant improvement of the 0.81 rate recorded in 2008 (one accident for 1.2 million flights). The 2009 rate was the second lowest in aviation history, just above the 2006 rate of 0.65. Compared to 10 years ago, the accident rate has been cut 36% from the rate recorded in 2000.
In absolute numbers, 2009 saw the following results
– 2.3 billion people flew safely on 35 million flights (27 million jet, 8 million turboprop)
– 19 accidents involving western built jet aircraft compared to 22 in 2008
– 90 accidents (all aircraft types, Eastern and Western built) compared to 109 in 2008
– 18 fatal accidents (all aircraft types) compared to 23 in 2008
– 685 fatalities compared to 502 in 2008
“Safety is the industry’s number one priority. Even in a decade during which airlines lost an average of US$5 billion per year, we still managed to improve our safety record. Last year, 2.3 billion people flew safely. But every fatality is a human tragedy that reminds us of the ultimate goal of zero accidents and zero fatalities,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
IATA member airlines outperformed the industry average with a Western-built jet hull accident rate of 0.62. That rate is equal to one accident for every 1.6 million flights. “In 2009 IATA marked an important milestone in aviation safety. From April 1, all IATA members were on the registry of the IATA Operational Safety Audit
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