The International Air Transport Association (better known by its acronym, IATA) released its 2023 Annual Safety Report, which considers the global aviation industry.
The general summary indicates that aviation continues to advance in terms of safety given that a series of indicators showed in 2023 results “best to date” and taking into account that during the year 37 million aircraft movements were recorded (jets and turboprops are considered): this figure shows an increase of 17% compared to 2022.
The basic measure for this conclusion is that last year “there were no hull losses or fatal accidents with passenger aircraft,” the organization’s publication states.
Yes they stand out a fatal accident -the only one- that starred in a turboprop plane, in which 72 people died. The tragedy occurred in January 2023, when a Yeti Airlines plane crashed in Nepal, about 200 km from Kathmandu, the capital.
“2023 safety performance continues to demonstrate that flying is the safest mode of transportation. “Aviation places its highest priority on safety and it shows in its 2023 performance,” said Willie Walsh, IATA Director General.
In reference to the accident, Walsh added that “…It reminds us that we can never take security for granted. And two high-profile accidents in the first month of 2024 show that, even if flying is one of the safest activities a person can do, there is always room for improvement.”
And he concluded: “We will continue to make flying increasingly safer.”
What the IATA report says
- Both member airlines of the world body and those registered in the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) did not suffer any fatal accidents in 2023.
- The overall accident rate was 0.80 per million sectors in 2023. This means 1 accident per 1.26 million flights.
- It is the lowest rate in more than a decade. It must be taken into account that the five-year moving average (2019-2023) was 1.19: that is, an average of one accident for every 880,293 flights.
- He Death risk improved to 0.03 in 2023: in 2022 and in the previous 5 years, the figure was 0.11. “With this level of safety, on average a person would have to travel by plane every day for 103,239 years to suffer a fatal accident,” they say in the IATA report.
- As noted, in 2023 there was a fatal accident involving a turboprop aircraft that resulted in 72 fatalities.
Flight safety in Latin America
In 2023, the region had a significant improvement as it reversed the increase in accidents it had been experiencing.
“The accident rate per million improved from 4.47 in 2022 to 0.37 in 2023.”
This figure is also better than the 5-year average, which was 1.91.