Accident-related data from the International Air Transport Association (Iata) for 2014 show that there were 12 fatal accidents involving all aircraft types, with 641 fatalities which compares to 210 fatalities in 2013. The five-year average is 517 fatalities (2009-2013).

The trebling of the 2013 figure to 641 last year only takes into account one of the Malaysian Airlines losses – the 298 deaths arising from flight MH17 are not counted because it is not classified as an accident.

IATA says: “The destruction of MH17 by anti-aircraft weaponry is not included as an accident under globally-recognised accident classification criteria.” It further points out: “The four aircraft involved in the events of 9/11 were treated in the same way.”

HULL LOSSES ‘THE LOWEST RATE IN HISTORY’

While the fatality rate has shot up, Iata says that commercial aviation safety is at “the lowest rate in history” based on hull losses per one million flights.

By these figures, the 2014 global jet accident rate was 0.23, the equivalent of one accident for every 4.4 million flights. This was an improvement over 2013 when the global hull loss rate stood at 0.41 (an average of one accident every 2.4m flights). Both beat the five-year rate (2009-2013) of 0.58 hull loss accidents per million flights jet.

“Any accident is one too many and safety is always aviation’s top priority. While aviation safety was in the headlines in 2014, the data show that flying continues to improve its safety performance,” says Tony Tyler, Iata’s Director General and CEO.

On the two Malaysian Airlines disasters, Tyler comments: “The year 2014 will be remembered for two extraordinary and tragic events—MH370 and MH17. Although the reasons for the disappearance and loss of MH370 are unknown, it is classified as a fatal accident – one of 12 in 2014.

“The shooting down of MH17 took with it 298 lives in an act of aggression that is by any measure unacceptable. Governments and industry have come together to find ways to reduce the risk of over-flying conflict zones. This includes better sharing of critical information about security risks to civil aviation. And we are calling on governments to find an international mechanism to regulate the design, manufacture and deployment of weapons with anti-aircraft capabilities.

“To the flying public an air tragedy is an air tragedy, regardless of how it is classified. In 2014 we saw a reduction in the number of fatal accidents—and that would be true even if we were to include MH17 in the total. The greatest tribute that we can pay to those who lost their lives in aviation-related tragedies is to continue our dedication to make flying ever safer. And that is exactly what we are doing,” said Tyler.

CIS IS THE WORST REGION TO FLY

While all regions saw their safety performance improve in 2014 compared to the respective five-year rate 2009-2013 for jet hull losses (see below), the CIS had the worst performance (0.83) among regions.

The CIS has, however, been showing strong improvement over recent years: 6.34 (2011), 1.91 (2012), 1.79 (2013) and 0.83 (2014).

Iata says: “For all airlines in the CIS, the jet hull loss rate in 2014 of 0.83 was a significant improvement over the five-year rate (2.74). However, this was well below world levels. “We are seeing steady improvement in the CIS but there still is work to be done,” adds Tyler.

 

Jet hull loss rates by region of operator

– Africa (from 6.83 to 0.00)
– Asia Pacific (from 0.63 to 0.44)
– CIS (from 2.74 to 0.83)
– Europe (from 0.24 to 0.15)
– Latin America and the Caribbean (from 0.87 to 0.41)
– Middle East-North Africa (1.82 to 0.63)
– North America (from 0.20 to 0.11)
– North Asia (from 0.06 to 0.00)

source: Iata