Despite a tremendous increase in passenger flights, last year was the safest in commercial aviation history, according to an airline industry association.
According to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) annual report, the only fatal passenger plane disaster occurred when an ATR turboprop operated by Nepal’s Yeti Airlines crashed during a local flight, killing 72 passengers.
The IATA reported 29 additional accidents in 2023 that did not result in fatalities or aircraft loss.
In 2022, there were 42 accidents, five of which were fatal, claiming 158 lives.
According to the IATA, a non-fatal accident is one that produces at least $1 million in damage or equals 10% of the plane’s value.
IATA statistics do not cover business, military, private, maintenance or training flights.
The IATA said “2023 saw the lowest fatality risk and ‘all accident’ rate on record.”
“On average a person would have to travel by air every day for 103,239 years to experience a fatal accident.”
The low crash rate came despite the number of flights last year rising 17 percent to 37.7 million, the IATA said.
The IATA represents some 320 airlines comprising 83 percent of global air traffic.
“Even if flying is among the safest activities a person can do, there is always room to improve,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, citing “two high profile accidents in the first month of 2024.”
In January, a Japan Airlines A350 Airbus was safely evacuated after bursting into flames at a Tokyo airport.
In the United States, a panel blew off the fuselage of a Boeing 737 MAX during an Alaska Airlines flight, again without any serious injuries.