Despite the rash of serious airline accidents in December which made 1999 appear a bad year for safety, initial figures indicate that last year was safer than average for the 1990s. The number of crew and passenger deaths in all categories of airliner worldwide was 730, compared with a decade average of about 1,260 and 1998's figure of 1,244 fatalities.
The number of fatal accidents was 48, the same figure as in 1998 and the decade average.
Meanwhile, the most accident-prone intercontinental airlines of the 1990s - China Airlines (CAL) and Korean Air - failed to improve. Korean added three hull losses - two fatal - and CAL lost a Boeing MD-11, with three fatalities.
Source: Flight International
