To70, a global aviation consultancy, has unveiled the results of its Civil Aviation Safety Review 2017, which found that out of 35 million flights conducted over last year, only two were involved in accidents that led to fatalities
According to To70’s findings, 111 accidents were recorded over 2017, two of which reported fatalities. A total of 13 lives were lost in the two incidents, one of which involved an Embraer Brasilia that lost control in flight in Angola, as well as a Czech-built Let 410 that crashed on landing at Nelken in Russia.
Together with the 3% increase in air traffic growth for 2017 over 2016, the accident rate for large aeroplane in commercial air transport has been reduced down to 0.06 fatal accidents per million flights. This amounts to a rate of one fatal accident for every 16 million flights.
Despite the decline in fatalities, the number of accidents rose from the 71 reported incidents in 2016 to 111 reported in 2017.
A growing challenge for airlines remains with the increasing use lithium-ion batteries in electronics that pose a fire risk on board aircraft, though many airlines have taken a pro-active approach in training staff to tackle fires in the cabin.