2014 'safest year in airline history'

Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik creates a sand sculpture of the missing Malaysian airliner MH370 on Puri beach in eastern Odisha state. Picture: J K Jagdev

Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik creates a sand sculpture of the missing Malaysian airliner MH370 on Puri beach in eastern Odisha state. Picture: J K Jagdev

Published Mar 10, 2015

Share

London - Last year was officially the safest in the history of commercial aviation – despite passenger jet disasters leading to hundreds of deaths.

Although more people died in air accidents in 2014 than the average in recent years, the number of fatal accidents compared with the total number of flights was at record low, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Its annual safety report states that 641 people died in airline accidents in 2014 – there were 210 in 2013 – with the year marked by two ‘extraordinary and tragic events’ involving Malaysia Airlines.

The figures include the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing which went missing carrying 239 people. The wreckage is still being sought in the southern Indian Ocean.

But the statistics specifically exclude all 298 people killed on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which was shot down by a missile in Ukraine in June and so is not classified as an accident.

Overall, the number of fatal plane crashes fell to 12 last year from 16 in 2013. IATA said that translated into one serious accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or severely damaged for every 4.4million flights and is a record low.

In 2013 the rate was one plane for every 2.4million flights.

Daily Mail

Related Topics: