How safe was flying in 2023?
The risk of fatality improved to 0.03 in 2023. For context, at this level of safety, on average a person would have to travel by air every day for 103,239 years to experience a fatal accident.
The ‘all accident rate’ was 0.80 per million sectors in 2023, which translates to one accident for every 1.26 million flights -- the lowest rate in over a decade.
IATA’s 2023 Annual Safety Report found were no hull losses or fatal accidents involving passenger jet aircraft in 2023. However, there was a single fatal accident involving a turboprop aircraft, resulting in 72 fatalities. There were 37 million aircraft movements in 2023 (jet and turboprop), an increase of 17% on the previous year.
British Airways Planes (Photo Credit: Tupungato / Adobe Stock)
More report highlights:
· The all accident rate outperformed the five-year (2019-2023) rolling average of 1.19 (an average one accident for every 880,293 flights).
· IATA member airlines and IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registered airlines experienced no fatal accident in 2023.
· The single fatal accident on a turboprop aircraft, resulting in 72 fatalities, marked a reduction from five fatal accidents in 2022 and an improvement on the five-year average (2019-2023) which was also five.
IATA Director General Willie Walsh. (Photo Credit: International Air Transport Association Media)
"2023 safety performance continues to demonstrate that flying is the safest mode of transport,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
“Aviation places its highest priority on safety and that shows in the 2023 performance. Jet operations saw no hull losses or fatalities. 2023 also saw the lowest fatality risk and ‘all accident’ rate on record. A single fatal turboprop accident with 72 fatalities, however, reminds us that we can never take safety for granted,” Walsh added.
“And two high profile accidents in the first month of 2024 show that, even if flying is among the safest activities a person can do, there is always room to improve. This is what we have done throughout our history. And we will continue to make flying ever safer.”
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