Africa records second highest air accident rate

Cargo planes a cause for concern AFRICA RECORDED the second highest airline accident rate in the world in 2006, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (Iata) annual Safety Report released last week. Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) took top spot for the year which was globally the safest on record. While improvements have been made to enhance safety in Africa, the continent recorded 4.31 accidents per million flights. Iata is working with relevant organisations on the safety issue with a focus on upgrading onboard systems and navigation databases, Iata director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said. “Aviation must be safer everywhere, including Russia and Africa. Regional safety begins with global standards that are maintained by all,” he said. “That is why the Iata Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) is a condition of Iata membership. "IOSA is the airline industry’s first globally accepted audit programme using internationally harmonised standards. All IATA airlines must complete an audit by the end of 2007 and close all findings by the end of 2008 to maintain membership. Currently 144 airlines are on the IOSA registry, including 121 IATA members,” he added. Bisignani describes the safety results for 2006 as impressive. “Air transport remains the safest form of travel. But we must do even better. With demand for air travel increasing at 5-6% per year, the accident rate must decrease just to keep the actual number of accidents in check. The goal will always be zero accidents and the interim target is to reduce the industry rate to 0.49 accidents per million flights in 2008 – a 25% improvement,” he said, There were 77 accidents in 2006, compared to 111 in 2005. Of these 77 accidents, 46 involved jet aircraft and 31 involved turbo-props. Approximately 76% of all accidents involved passenger aircraft, compared to 24% for cargo aircraft. This is disproportionate with cargo’s 4% of global operations, said Bisignani. “To help address this issue, standards for cargo operators have been incorporated into the IOSA programme.”