The world’s airlines set a record last year for safety in the skies, even as air travel surged toward new post-pandemic records. The year saw only a single fatal accident involving a passenger plane, and only 29 non-fatal accidents.
The fatal accident, which killed 72, involved the crash of a Nepal Yeti Airlines ATR turboprop. Other than fatal accidents, IATA tracks accidents that cause damage of at least $1 million, or 10% of the plane’s value.
The figures, announced by the International Air Transport Association, indicate that “On average a person would have to travel by air every day for 103,239 years to experience a fatal accident.” But, added IATA chief Willie Walsh, “Even if flying is among the safest activities a person can do, there is always room to improve.”
Walsh pointed to two high-profile accidents in the first month of this year, the burning of a Japan Airlines A350 on a Tokyo runway with all passengers safely evacuated and the Alaska Airlines incident with a door panel blowing off in flight. The plane was still able to land safely.
