2017 was the safest year on record for commercial airlines, which had just two fatal crashes worldwide in
2017, accounting for a total of 13 deaths.
Those numbers mean that just one in 16 million flights
resulted in a fatal accident, according to the Dutch aviation industry
consultant To70.
"With only two fatal accidents to passenger airliners,
both involving small turboprop planes, 2017 was much better than could
reasonably (and statistically) be expected, and was again better than last year's
remarkable performance," the firm said.
This year's figure of 0.06 fatal accidents per million
flights continues a steady decline that began in 2012, when fatal accidents
occurred at a rate of just less than 0.5 per million flights. In making this
year's calculation, To70 estimated a growth rate in the number of commercial
passenger flights of 3%.
The two fatal crashes this year both involved regional
airlines. In October, seven people died when an Embraer aircraft operated by Angolan
carrier Air Guicango crashed en route to the country's capital of Luanda.
The following month, six people perished when a Czech-built
Let L-410 twin-engine aircraft flown by Khabarovsk Airlines crashed prior to
landing in the eastern Russian village of Nelkan.
Despite the outstanding 2017 fatality record, To70 warned
that flying still carries risks. There were 111 civil aviation accidents in
2017, up from 71 in 2016. Included among them was the forced diversion due to
engine failure of an Air France A380 flying from Paris to Los Angeles in
October.
To70's data doesn't include fatalities that were the result
of a ground mishap. The company noted that one person suffered a fatal injury
from a jet blast last year while standing close to the airport fence in St.
Maarten and 35 people died last January in a Kyrgyzstan village after a cargo
jet overran the runway.