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Written by Sapa AFP
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Tuesday, 14 March 2006 |
The number of people killed in air crashes around the world more than
doubled in 2005, with 1 050 victims in 34 fatal accidents, according to
statistics from trade magazine Flight International.
 The
number of fatalities in both passenger and freight plane crashes is the
highest since 2000 and compares with 466 in 28 accidents in 2004, the
figures showed.
David Learmount, operations and safety editor at Flight International,
said: "Airline safety in 2005 took a step backwards in terms of the
number of fatal accidents and resulting passenger and crew deaths.
"It was a disappointing 12 months given the outstanding safety performance in the previous two years."
Learmount
pointed out that fatal crashes in 2005 involved airlines based in
countries with "mediocre or poor safety records" compared with the rest
of the world and tended to involve older aircraft.
None of the world's major airlines suffered a fatal crash last year.
Crashes included two in Nigeria, in which 225 people were killed, and three in Sudan. All involved old Soviet-built aircraft.
A West Caribbean Airways crash in Venezuela last August claimed the lives of 152 passengers and eight crew.
In
the same month, there was also a severe loss of life when a Helios
Airways 737 jet crashed into hills north of the Greek capital Athens,
killing 115 passengers and six crew.
According to the magazine's
statistics, the number of fatal crashes has shown a downward trend
since 1996, when 1 840 people were killed in 57 incidents -- the
highest number in the last 10 years. - Sapa-AFP
Traveloscopy Editor Notes: All fatalities involved older aircraft,
in particular ex-Soviet aircraft. Two modern aircraft (an Airbus A-340
and a B737-700) crashed, but each incident involved bad weather and
resulted in no fatalities.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 14 March 2006 )
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Thursday, 24 May 2012
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