February 19, 2009
"Our target is zero accidents and zero fatalities. Nothing less is an acceptable result," -- IATA director-general Giovanni Bisignani.
More than 500 people died in air crashes on Western-built jets in 2008 and safety lapses at airlines contributed to nearly a third of accidents, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.
The toll of 502 was down from 2007, when 692 died, but the number of crashes rose slightly.
The 2008 industry-wide accident rate, measured in hull losses per million flights, was 0.81, or one accident every 1.2 million flights. This compared with 0.75 in 2007.
"Runway excursions", when an aircraft left the runway on take-off or landing, accounted for one-quarter of accidents last year and ground damage was reported in another 17 percent, according to IATA on Thursday.
There was USD$4 billion worth of damage to aircraft and equipment on the ground, IATA said.
Thirty percent of the accidents had "deficient safety management at the airline level as a contributing factor", according to the Geneva-based group which represents 230 carriers worldwide.
Regionally, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) had the worst measured accident rate, at 6.43. But the relatively small fleet of Western-built jet aircraft operated there meant the three accidents skewed the numbers considerably, IATA said.
Last September an Aeroflot-Nord flight crashed as it tried to land in the Ural mountains' city of Perm, killing all 88 people on board. Russian investigators said last week the chief pilot of the airliner had alcohol in his blood but the primary cause of the crash was poor training.
Africa had an accident rate of 2.12 although there was only one hull loss, according to IATA. The safety record of the Middle East and North Africa region was rated at 1.89 and Latin America had a hull loss rate of 2.55.
"Addressing infrastructure issues remains a top priority," IATA said of the Latin American region.
North America (0.58), Europe (0.42) and Asia (0.58) all performed better than the global average.
"Our record on safety is impressive. But the accident in Buffalo last week and all the 502 fatalities in air accidents in 2008 are human tragedies reminding airlines, regulators and industry partners everywhere that safety is a constant challenge and we must always strive to do better," said IATA director-general Giovanni Bisignani.
"Our target is zero accidents and zero fatalities. Nothing less is an acceptable result."
A commuter plane operated by Colgan Air for Continental Airlines crashed on approach to Buffalo last week, killing 50 people.
(Reuters)
"Our target is zero accidents and zero fatalities. Nothing less is an acceptable result," -- IATA director-general Giovanni Bisignani.
More than 500 people died in air crashes on Western-built jets in 2008 and safety lapses at airlines contributed to nearly a third of accidents, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.
The toll of 502 was down from 2007, when 692 died, but the number of crashes rose slightly.
The 2008 industry-wide accident rate, measured in hull losses per million flights, was 0.81, or one accident every 1.2 million flights. This compared with 0.75 in 2007.
"Runway excursions", when an aircraft left the runway on take-off or landing, accounted for one-quarter of accidents last year and ground damage was reported in another 17 percent, according to IATA on Thursday.
There was USD$4 billion worth of damage to aircraft and equipment on the ground, IATA said.
Thirty percent of the accidents had "deficient safety management at the airline level as a contributing factor", according to the Geneva-based group which represents 230 carriers worldwide.
Regionally, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) had the worst measured accident rate, at 6.43. But the relatively small fleet of Western-built jet aircraft operated there meant the three accidents skewed the numbers considerably, IATA said.
Last September an Aeroflot-Nord flight crashed as it tried to land in the Ural mountains' city of Perm, killing all 88 people on board. Russian investigators said last week the chief pilot of the airliner had alcohol in his blood but the primary cause of the crash was poor training.
Africa had an accident rate of 2.12 although there was only one hull loss, according to IATA. The safety record of the Middle East and North Africa region was rated at 1.89 and Latin America had a hull loss rate of 2.55.
"Addressing infrastructure issues remains a top priority," IATA said of the Latin American region.
North America (0.58), Europe (0.42) and Asia (0.58) all performed better than the global average.
"Our record on safety is impressive. But the accident in Buffalo last week and all the 502 fatalities in air accidents in 2008 are human tragedies reminding airlines, regulators and industry partners everywhere that safety is a constant challenge and we must always strive to do better," said IATA director-general Giovanni Bisignani.
"Our target is zero accidents and zero fatalities. Nothing less is an acceptable result."
A commuter plane operated by Colgan Air for Continental Airlines crashed on approach to Buffalo last week, killing 50 people.
(Reuters)