Although so far this year serious plane accidents have occurred such as a collision on the ground, followed by a fire, a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 in Tokyo-Haneda, which left five dead; the detachment, in mid-flight, of a door from a Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX and, more recently, the “strong shake” suffered by a flight covering the route between Sydney (Australia) and Auckland (New Zealand) in which 50 people were injured after a technical failure, the International Air Transport Association (IATA, for its acronym in English) – main airline organization – states that “the plane is the safest mode of transportation in the world.”
This was stated by the director general of IATA, Willie Walshregarding a recent report published by the organization in which it concludes that 2023 was considered the safest for the commercial airline industry in the last decade.
During all of 2023, there was only one fatal plane crash worldwide. In fact about 72 people died on an ATR flight of the Nepalese company Yeti Airlines that covered the Kathmandu-Pokhara route in January and that crashed shortly before landing.
In addition to the fatal incident, IATA, which brings together 320 companies that represent 83 percent of the world's air traffic, reported 30 accidents (non-fatal) that caused damage of at least one million dollars, that is, 10 percent of the residual value.
The report concerns regular or charter transport, passenger or freight aircraft, weighing more than 5.7 tons at takeoff and with propellers or jet engines.. Business, tourist or military aircraft are excluded from these statistics.
The accident rate stood at 0.8 per million flights, compared to 1.3 in 2022, and an average of 1.19 in the last five years, according to IATA. In addition, the risk of a fatal accident fell to 0.03 per million flights, while the five-year average is 0.11 per million.
Aviation is a safe method of transportation. But these types of events demonstrate the absolute need for passengers to keep their seat belts fastened.
With these figures, if a person flew every day of their life, it would take “103,239 years, on average, to suffer a fatal accident,” the association explained, praising a year marked by “the best results ever obtained (…) according to some criteria. ”.
Regarding this, IATA also said that global air transport recovered 94.1 percent of its 2021 passenger traffic last year.thus continuing its “strong rebound” after the pandemic.
On the other hand, the border closures and other travel restrictions imposed since March 2020, due to the covid-19 pandemic, had devastating effects on passenger air transport, which fell that year to 34.2 percent compared to at the 2019 level, according to the organization.
The recovery did not come until 2021, when 41.6 percent of the pre-pandemic level was reached, and in 2022, with 68.5 percent.
For his part, air safety expert Joe Hattley told the AFP agency that technical problems were not common in modern aviation.
“Aviation is a safe method of transportation. But these types of events demonstrate the absolute need for passengers to keep their seat belts fastened,” he noted.
Historical figures for air accidents
In 2022, IATA reported 42 accidents, five of them fatal, with a total of 158 victims. In the period 2019-2023, the annual average was 38 accidents, five of which were fatal, and 143 victims.
The improvement was achieved despite the fact that air traffic increased by 17 percent compared to the previous year, with 37.7 million flights, a figure still lower than the 46.8 million in 2019, before the covid-19 pandemic.
New air incidents raise questions about manufacturer Boeing
This 2024 is being really complex for Boeing. And she is reflected in the bag. Since the beginning of the year, the company has lost 27.33 percent of its stock market value and went from trading above $250 to close to $180 per share.
And it is no wonder that the accident last Monday when at least 50 people were injured because a Latam Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that was flying from Sydney to Auckland suffered problems and collapsed after being hundreds of meters in the air. It was added that that same day, a United Airlines Boeing 777-300 had to abort its flight from Sydney to San Francisco due to a hydraulic fluid leak.
With these figures, if a person flew every day of their life, it would take “103,239 years, on average, to suffer a fatal accident.”
Additionally, on March 7, the wheel of a Boeing 777-200 came off as the plane took off from San Francisco, causing serious damage to several vehicles parked at the airport, while last Wednesday an American Airlines (AA) Boeing 777 in United States. He was forced to make an emergency landing.
An FAA investigation revealed dozens of quality control problems at both Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems.
In fact, Boeing failed 33 of 89 audits conducted by the FAA while Spirit AeroSystems, which produces the 737 Max-9 fuselage, failed seven of 13 audits.
Among the problems revealed by The New York Times, Spirit mechanics used a card used to open hotel room doors to check the seal of the plane's doors or applied liquid soap instead of lubricant. And on Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSA) announced that after weeks of investigations it cannot reach detailed conclusions because Boeing does not have a record and deleted maintenance recordings.
The crisis experienced by Boeing, the second largest commercial aircraft manufacturer in the world after the European Airbus, began five years ago when two 737 Max-8 crashed in similar circumstances in October 2018 and March 2019, causing the death of 346. people.
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