NEW FIGURES have revealed a sharp rise in the number of fatalities resulting from air crashes in 2018.
According to figures published by the Aviation Safety Network (ASN), 556 deaths were recorded last year across 15 different airliner accidents.
That represents a major increase on the 44 fatalities rcorded over 10 accidents in 2017.
Though 2017 was the safest year in aviation history, according to the ASN, the figures for 2019 are still significantly worse than the five-year average of 14 accidents and 480 fatalities
October’s Lion Air crash was a major contributor to the sharp increase in the number of deaths.
Lion Air Flight 610 crashed 13 minutes after take-off from Jakarta on October 29th, 2018.
Wreckage from the Boeing 737 Max plane was discovered off the coast of Java.
All 189 passengers and crew members died in the crash, which is the second deadliest ever in Indonesia.
The first major accident involving a Boeing 737 Max, a preliminary study later identified technical problems as the main cause of the crash.
12 of the accidents recorded in 2018 involved passenger flights with the three remaining incidents all involving cargo flights.
Despite the increase, ASN chief executive Harro Ranter indicated the figures show an improvement in air travel safety over the past two decades, given the increased demand.
“If the accident rate had remained the same as 10 years ago, there would have been 39 fatal accidents last year,” he said.
“At the accident rate of the year 2000, there would have been even 64 fatal accidents. This shows the enormous progress in terms of safety in the past two decades.”
According to ASN loss of control or LOC accidents remain a source of some concern, accounting for around 10 of the 25 worst accidents ever recorded.
