The number of fatal airline accidents increased in 2002, compared with the previous year, marking the first year-on-year rise since 1996.
Last year saw 40 fatal accidents and 1,022 fatalities, including those on non-passenger operations, which compares with 33 fatal accidents and 778 fatalities in 2001. Until this reversal, accident numbers had been reducing steadily each year since 1996. But the overall trend for the past six years shows gradually improving safety, and 2002's figures remain below the annual average for the preceding decade as a whole.
Since the year's most shocking accident, the mid-air collision of a Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev Tu-154M and a DHL International Airlines Boeing 757-200F over southern Germany, it has been recognised that there is no globally agreed and defined standard operating procedure (SOP) for pilots faced with conflicting instructions from their airborne collision avoidance system (ACAS) and air traffic control.
The German investigating body (BFU) has released information making it clear that if both crews - instead of just one - had followed their ACAS resolution advisories, the collision would not have happened. National and regional agencies are now working towards defining a standard through the International Civil Aviation Organisation. ICAO says it hopes to achieve consensus by late March and issue a ruling by October.
Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), the most deadly of all accident categories, accounted for nearly half the fatal accidents last year. Stuart Matthews, president of the Flight Safety Foundation theorises that complacency may be a factor. He says technology is available that can virtually eliminate the occurrence of CFIT accidents.
Source: Flight International
