Airline fatalities fell 25% in 2008 versus 2007

Thursday January 8, 2009

Last year was one of the safest years on record for air travel, according to Ascend, with 539 reported passenger and crew fatalities, down from 730 in 2007 and the second-best year on record.

The UK-based consultancy and information services provider said that only 2004 had fewer fatalities at 434. On the down side, 2008 saw an increase in the number of fatal accidents to 28 from 24 in 2007. Ascend said the fatal accident rate for 2008 was 1 per 1.3 million flights compared to 1 per 1.2 million for the nine years since 2000.

"These are very reassuring statistics," Director Paul Hayes stated. "Although there were more fatal accidents . . . far fewer people died. The chances of dying in a serious air accident have reduced significantly and overall, passenger safety has improved." He added that despite his "earlier misgivings," the EU's blacklisting of unsafe carriers "proved effective," as have "IATA's Operational Safety Audit for member airlines and improved adherence to international safety regulations."

The worst accident in 2008 was the Spanair MD-80 crash in August, which killed 149 of the 166 passengers onboard and five of six crewmembers (ATWOnline, Oct. 17, 2008). Only two other accidents killed more than 50 people, according to Ascend: The Aeroflot Nord 737-500 accident in September resulted in 82 deaths (ATWOnline, Sept. 23, 2008) and the Aug. 24 crash of an Itek Air 737-200 killed 65 (ATWOnline, Aug. 26).