United Nations agency the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has detailed its preliminary safety and security figures for 2008, revealing a 25% year-on-year reduction in air accident deaths.
During 2008 ICAO recorded 11 fatal accidents across the scheduled airline operations of its 190 member states. The figure includes aircraft with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of over 2,250kg (4,960lb), carrying seven passengers or more, and does not include acts of "unlawful interference".
Passenger fatalities for the year stood at 439, compared with 587 from 11 accidents in 2007.
ICAO says the scheduled air service accident rate, measured in passenger fatalities per 100 million passenger-kilometres, decreased marginally to approximately 0.01370 from about 0.01391 in 2007. Since 1990 the rate has significantly fallen, from around 19 accidents per 10 million departures to around four in 2008.
During 2008 there were 12 non-scheduled accidents involving passenger fatalities, down from 14, with the number of deaths falling to 80 compared with 86 in 2007. The figures cover aircraft with a MTOW of over 2,250kg.
Over the 12-month period, acts of unlawful interference fell to 24, killing 11 and injuring 31. During 2007 the number of acts totalled 22, with 18 deaths and 33 injured.
ICAO council president Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez says: "While the safety and security of commercial aviation keeps improving over the long term, we continue to work with member states and the industry to consistently reduce the number of accidents and fatalities even more.
"This is imperative if air transport is to keep growing and contribute to the economic and social development of all regions of the world."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
