2015 the safest year for aviation
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The aviation industry recorded its best ever year in terms of safety in 2015, with a global fatal accident rate of just one in five million flights.
While the year was marked by the tragic losses of the Germanwings and Metrojet flights, commercial airlines safely operated more than 40 million flights and carried in excess of 3.5 billion passengers across the world in 2015.
There were four major accidents involving large Western-built jets operated by commercial airlines, which resulted in a total of 374 fatalities.
Asia Pacific carriers reported no major accidents involving large Western-built jets in 2015.
Commenting on the industry’s safety performance, Andrew Herdman, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), said; “Flying today is extraordinarily safe, and aircraft accidents are now increasingly rare events. Indeed, the 2015 accident rate is the lowest ever recorded, but we can never afford to be complacent.”
The accident rate involving turboprop aircraft also declined in 2015, although it remains higher than that of larger jet aircraft. AAPA noted that turboprops, which are often used on regional routes in more remote areas, face challenges relating to geography, airport and air navigation infrastructure.
“Turboprop operations play an important role in serving smaller markets and developing regions of the world, but do face some specific operational challenges,” Herdman said. “We believe there are opportunities to further enhance safety performance by focusing particular attention on the importance of human factors… as well as investments in upgrading the relevant air navigation aids and ground infrastructure at airports.”
While aviation safety has hit the headlines in recent years, with incidents including the two Malaysia Airlines losses and the AirAsia crash in December 2014, it is worth noting that over the last five years, the global rate of major accidents has more than halved.
“Flying today is extraordinarily safe, and aircraft accidents are now increasingly rare events, but we can never afford to be complacent. Public perceptions of aviation safety are, understandably, still strongly influenced by reactions to particular events, rather than statistical trends. The challenge is to recognise the importance of both dimensions when reviewing the aviation industry’s safety performance,” Herdman concluded.
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