The preliminary analysis carried out by the International Civil Aviation Organization into safety shows airliner fatalities more than tripled last year.
There were 18 accidents involving scheduled aircraft with a maximum take-off weight greater than 2,250kg (4,950lb) in 2005, compared with nine accidents in 2004. The total number of passengers killed last year in airliners was 713, up from 203 the year before.
This took the rate of fatalities per 100 million passenger kilometres from 0.01 in 2004 to 0.02 last year. Additionally, charter, business and general aviation accounted for a further 18 fatal accidents killing 278, up from 207 in 2004.
The results are in line with Flight International's 2005 airline safety review, which showed a disappointing 12 months in contrast to the outstanding safety performance of 2003 and 2004. Our figures, which combine all scheduled and non-scheduled airline-operated flights reached a total of 34 fatal accidents resulting in 1,050 fatalities. These figures are close to the annual averages for the past 10 years
External link:
Read the International Civil Aviation Organization's preliminary safety and security statistics for air carrier operations in 2005 in portable document format.
Source: Flight International
