International Air Transport Association: "2014 Was the Safest Year in Aviation History"

▲Despite multiple major aviation disasters in 2014, it remained the safest year in aviation history. (Illustration / Daguan Imaging)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Was 2014 the safest year for air travel?The International Air Transport Association said on the 9ththat despite two major disasters involving Malaysia Airlines last year, which resulted in hundreds of deaths, according to some estimates, last year was still the safest year in commercial aviation history.

According to a report released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), although the number of air crash fatalities last year was higher than the average of recent years, the number of fatal accidents per total flights hit a historic low. IATA Director General and CEO Tony Tyler also pointed out in a statement: "Although aviation safety was headline news in 2014, the data shows that the industry's safety performance continues to improve."

The IATA, representing around 250 airlines, stated in its annual safety report that there were 12 fatal accidents in 2014, claiming a total of 641 lives. In comparison, during the five-year period from 2009 to 2013, there were an average of 19 air crashes per year, resulting in 517 deaths.

In other words, the accident rate per 1 million flights with "total hull loss" in 2014 was estimated at 0.23, equivalent to one accident for every 4.4 million flights. The accident rate in 2013 was 0.41, and the five-year average per million flights was 0.58.

However, the IATA's 2014 statistics did not include the Malaysia Airlines MH17 incident, which killed 298 people, as the flight was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine in September last year and therefore not classified as an accident. (News source: Central News Agency)