2011, safest year for global aviation, says IATA

African aviation rating improves

THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) yesterday disclosed that the 2011-accident rate for Western-built jets was the lowest in aviation history, surpassing the previous mark set in 2010.

The 2011 global accident rate (measured in hull losses per million flights of Western-built jets), according to the group, was 0.37, the equivalent of one accident every 2.7 million flights.

This represented a 39 per cent improvement compared to 2010, when the accident rate was 0.61, or one accident for every 1.6 million flights.

A hull loss is an accident in which the aircraft is destroyed or substantially damaged and not subsequently repaired for whatever reason, including a financial decision by the owner.

Director-General, IATA, Tony Tyler, said: “Safety is the air transport industry’s number-one priority. It is also a team effort. The entire stakeholder community – airlines, airports, air navigation service providers and safety regulators – works together everyday to make the skies safer based on global standards”.

Aviation’s good record was not the result of complacency, Tyler stated, adding that the strong performance in 2011 should not distract them from the need for continuous improvement to drive the accident rate even lower.

He reiterated that an even safer future would be built on the foundation stones of global standards, cooperation between industry and government and information sharing.

The IATA yearly report shows that the total number of accidents for African airlines dropped from 18 in 2010 to 8 in 2011.

The total accident rate for African airlines that are on the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registry was almost equivalent to the world average, while the accident rate for airlines that are not on the IOSA registry was more than five times as high.

The same trend occurred in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), where the accident rate for IOSA-registered airlines was more than five times better than the rate for non-IOSA registered airlines.

“The problems of Africa are complex and include both insufficient government oversight and a lack of infrastructure investment. It is quite clear from the industry’s performance that global standards like IOSA are an effective means to improve safety. We are eager to work with governments to make IOSA a part of their safety oversight programs”, said Tyler.

IATA noted that runway excursions, in which an aircraft departs a runway during a landing or takeoff, were the most common types of accidents in 2011 (18 per cent of total accidents).