Air safety declined between 2017 and 2018, IATA study

Friday, February 22, 2019

The all accident rate in 2018 decreased from 2017. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released the safety data. In 2018, all accident rate was 1.35, while in 2017 it was 1.11. It indicates decline in safety.  However, it was better than the all accident rate of 1.79 for the previous five-year period of 2013 through 2017. The all accident rate is measured in accidents per one million flights.

Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO said, “Last year some 4.3 billion passengers flew safely on 46.1 million flights. 2018 was not the extraordinary year that 2017 was. However, flying is safe, and the data tell us that it is getting safer”.

The 2018 rate for major jet accidents (measured in jet hull losses per one million flights) was 0.19, the equivalent of one major accident for every 5.4 million flights, as per IATA. This was an improvement over the rate for the previous five-year period (2013-2017) of 0.29 but not as good as the rate of 0.12 in 2017.

There were 11 fatal accidents with 523 fatalities among passengers and crew. In the previous five-year period, there was average of 8.8 fatal accidents and about 234 fatalities per year. In 2017, the industry experienced six fatal accidents with 19 fatalities, a record low, IATA noted.

IATA represents some 290 airlines comprising 82 percent of global air traffic.

The six regions around the world that showed improvement or stayed the same in 2018 compared to the previous five years in terms of the jet hull loss rate were Africa; Asia-Pacific; Europe; the Middle East and North Africa; and finally North America.

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