TRAVELCONSUMERDAILY.COM
FRIDAY, JULY 9, 2010

A SNAPSHOT of global airline fatal accident figures for the first half of 2010 confirms that airline safety performance is resolutely refusing to improve, aviation industry website Flightglobal.com reports.

It says this is significant because airline accident rates had previously declined steadily since airline flying began, but that process stopped in about 2003.

From January to June this year the airlines worldwide suffered nine fatal accidents in which 415 people died. This compares favourably with the first six months of 2009 for which the figures were respectively 13 and 499, but comparing the numbers for the same period each year over the last decade, the trend for the period is more or less flat.With only nine fatal accidents in the first six months, 2010 so far shows the lowest figure for a decade. Looking behind the numbers, however, it becomes evident that all the improvement came from the fact there were significantly fewer accidents involving non-passenger flights, but just as many as usual in the passenger category.

With only nine fatal accidents in the first six months, 2010 so far shows the lowest figure for a decade. Looking behind the numbers, however, it becomes evident that all the improvement came from the fact there were significantly fewer accidents involving non-passenger flights, but just as many as usual in the passenger category.

Non-passenger flights include freight, airline training, positioning/ferry and post-maintenance test flights. Nevertheless, the reduction in fatal flights in the non-passenger category will be welcomed by the authorities - especially if this recent improvement is sustained for the whole year - because this sector has always shown a much higher accident rate than passenger flights.

The most serious accidents in 2010 so far have been the Ethiopian Airlines 737-800 crash into the sea off Beirut in January, the Afriqiyah Airways A330 crash at Tripoli in May and the Air India Express 737-800 fatal overrun at Mangalore in the same month.