IATA releases 2018 airline safety performance
The 2018 safety performance of the commercial airline industry showed continuing safety improvements over the long term, with one accident for every 740,000 flights, but an increase in accidents versus the preceding year
This was according to the latest data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The all accident rate (measured in accidents per 1 million flights) was 1.35, versus the all accident rate of 1.79 for the previous 5-year period (2013-2017), but a decline compared to 2017’s record performance of 1.11.
The 2018 rate for major jet accidents (measured in jet hull losses per 1 million flights) was 0.19, which was the equivalent of one major accident for every 5.4 million flights.
This was an improvement over the rate for the previous 5-year period (20132017) of 0.29 but not as good as the rate of 0.12 in 2017.
There were 11 fatal accidents with 523 fatalities among passengers and crew. This compares with an average of 8.8 fatal accidents and approximately 234 fatalities per year in the previous 5-year period (2013-2017).
In 2017, the industry experienced six fatal accidents with 19 fatalities, which was a record low. One accident in 2017 also resulted in the deaths of 35 persons on the ground.
“Last year some 4.3 billion passengers flew safely on 46.1 million flights. 2018 was not the extraordinary year that 2017 was. However, flying is safe, and the data tell us that it is getting safer," says Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
"If safety in 2018 had remained at the same level as 2013, there would have been 109 accidents instead of 62; and there would have been 18 fatal accidents, instead of the 11 that actually occurred,” he elaborated.
“Flying continues to be the safest form of long distance travel the world has ever known. Based on the data, on average, a passenger could take a flight every day for 241 years before experiencing an accident with one fatality on board. We remain committed to the goal of having every flight takeoff and land safely.”
Overall, six regions showed improvement or stayed the same in 2018 compared to the previous five years (20132017) in terms of the jet hull loss rate.
The world turboprop hull loss rate was 0.60 per million flights, which was an improvement over 1.23 in 2017 and also over the 5-year rate (2013-2017) of 1.83.
All regions except for Middle EastNorth Africa saw their turboprop safety performance improve in 2018 when compared to their respective 5-year rates. Accidents involving turboprop aircraft represented 24% of all accidents in 2018 and 45% of fatal accidents.
For a third consecutive year, airlines in Sub-Saharan Africa experienced zero jet hull losses and zero fatalities in jet operations. The all accident rate was 2.71, a significant improvement over the rate of 6.80 for the previous five years.
Africa was the only region to see a decline in the all-accident rate compared to 2017. However, the region experienced 2 fatal turboprop accidents, neither of
which involved a scheduled passenger flight.
“We continue to progress in the region toward world-class levels of safety. But, despite improvement there is still a gap to cover in the safety performance of the continent’s turboprop fleet," according to the IATA CEO.
Global standards such as the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) are making a difference. Counting all accidents, the performance of African
airlines on the IOSA registry was more than twice as good as non-IOSA airlines in the region.
“In parallel, African governments must accelerate the implementation of ICAO’s safety-related standards and recommended practices (SARPS). As of year-end 2017, only 26 African countries had at least 60% SARPS implementation. They also should incorporate IOSA into their safety oversight systems,” remarked de Juniac.