Last year was “the best in history” in terms of air safetyaccording to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The association’s annual safety report, published on Wednesday 28, states that the plane is the safest means of transport.
According to the report, on average, a person would have to fly every day for 103,239 years before suffering a fatal accident.
There was only one fatal incident in 2023, a domestic flight crash in Nepal that killed 68 passengers and four crew, according to IATA. Since it was a turboprop aircraft, that means No one died in an incident involving a passenger plane this year.
Even with a 17% increase in aircraft movements compared to the previous year, the accident rate has decreased. According to IATA, Last year there was one accident for every 1.26 million flightscompared with a five-year moving average of one for every 880,000 flights.
In 2023, there were also no accidents involving the hull of passenger aircraft, i.e. when an aircraft suffers irreparable damage.
However, Hopes of a repeat of this year have been dashed two days into 2024.
A Japan Airlines Airbus A350 caught fire on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on January 2. It collided with a Coast Guard plane that was delivering supplies to victims of a recent earthquake.
No one died on the A350 – all 379 people were evacuated – but five people died on the Coast Guard plane.
Three days later, the Alaska Airlines accident occurred. A Boeing 737 Max 9 lost its door seal mid-flight, causing an uncontrolled decompression that required the deployment of oxygen masks. The plane returned to Portland International Airport (Oregon, United States) after 20 minutes, with no serious injuries.
The incident has raised serious questions about Boeing’s quality control processes.
In its preliminary report, the US National Transportation Safety Board says the plane — delivered just 66 days earlier — left Boeing’s factory without bolts designed to secure the door stopper.
“Two high-profile accidents in the first month of 2024 demonstrate that, Although flying is one of the safest activities a person can do, there is always room for improvement.”said Willie Walsh, IATA Director General.
“This is what we have done throughout our history. And we will continue to make flying safer and safer,” he added.
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