There were 11 fatal accidents worldwide in 2008, identical to 2007. "The accident rate for scheduled air services, measured in passenger fatalities per 100 million passenger-km. performed [the number of passengers multiplied by the number of km. traveled] decreased marginally, from approximately 0.01391 in 2007 to about 0.01370 in 2008," ICAO stated. "This was almost identical to the 2007 rate."
But the UN organization pointed out that from 1990 to 2008, "there has been a significant decline in the accident rate, from around 19 accidents per 10 million departures in 1990 to around four in 2008." Annual fatal accidents have decreased 62% compared to 1990, when there were 29.
On the security front, ICAO reported 24 acts of unlawful interference on scheduled service flights in 2008, leading to 11 fatalities and 31 injuries; in 2007 there were 22 acts, 18 persons killed and 33 injured.
"While the safety and security of commercial aviation keeps improving over the long term, we continue to work. . .to consistently reduce even more the number of accidents and fatalities, Council President Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez said. "This is imperative if air transport is to keep growing." IATA released its own figures, which differed slightly, last month.
(ATW Online)
