New data reveals 15 fatal airliner accidents last year

New data released by the Aviation Safety Network has shown that a total of 15 fatal airliner accidents were reported last year.

These accidents resulted in 556 fatalities, which was worse than the five-year average of 14 accidents and 480 deaths caused by airline accidents.

The number of fatalities recorded last year was also higher than the ten accidents and 44 deaths that occurred in 2017.

Of the total accidents occurred last year, 12 were associated with passenger flights and three with cargo flights. Three of these involved with airlines blacklisted by the EU.

The figures also showed that last year was the third and ninth safest year in terms of the number of fatal accidents and subsequent deaths, respectively.

Despite an increase in the number of accidents and deaths, last year was regarded as one of the safest years for commercial aviation.

Aviation Safety Network CEO Harro Ranter said: “If the accident rate had remained the same as ten years ago, there would have been 39 fatal accidents last year.

“At the accident rate of the year 2000, there would have been even 64 fatal accidents. This shows the enormous progress in terms of safety in the past two decades.”

Aviation Safety Network also noted that data from the last five years revealed that accidents related to a loss of control are a major safety concern as this type of hazard was responsible for at least ten of the 25 worst accidents worldwide.

The majority of such accidents also recorded a poor rate of survivability.