Some key aviation safety metrics last year showed an improvement over 2022 and had their “best-ever” results, according to the International Air Transport Association’s 2023 Annual Safety Report, released Wednesday.
The total number of accidents in 2023 for both passenger and cargo flights decreased to 30 from 42 in 2022 and was lower than the average of 38 for the 2019-2023 period, according to IATA. There was a single fatal accident involving a turboprop aircraft in Nepal with a loss of 72 lives. This compares with five fatal accidents in 2022, with 158 lives lost. It also is lower than the five-year average of five fatal accidents with 143 lives lost.
There were 37.7 million total aircraft movements in 2023, a 17 percent increase year over year.
The all-accident rate, which is measured by accidents per one million flights, was 0.80, down from the 1.30 reported last year and the 1.19 five-year rolling average. The 2023 rate also was the lowest in more than a decade, according to IATA. The all-accident rate for IATA member airlines, however, was 0.77, up from 0.58 in 2022 and higher than the 0.73 average for 2019-2023.
The overall fatality risk declined to 0.03 from 0.11 a year prior, and was the lowest fatality risk on record, according to IATA. It also was lower than the average 0.11 fatality risk for 2019-2023.
Of the eight regions IATA tracks, the 2023 all-accident rate in each improved from 2022 except in the North America and Asia-Pacific regions, the latter of which included the single fatal accident.
North America’s all-accident rate increased to 1.14 from 0.53 in 2022 but remained below its five-year average of 1.21. The largest portion of accidents in 2023 were related to landing gear collapses, according to IATA.
Europe’s all-accident rate improved in 2023 to 0.48 from 0.98 a year prior. The rate also is better than the region’s five-year average of 0.77. Europe also has had a fatality risk of zero since 2018, according to IATA.
IATA: More 2022 Airline Accidents, Fatalities but Lower Risk
