Last year the number of air accidents and fatalities were down on the 2014 figures and way below the five-year average, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
Accidents totalled 68 compared with 77 in 2014 and the annual average of 90 over the last five years. And there were only four fatal accidents, compared to 12 the year before.
However, the Iata report excluded the Germanwings and Metrojet crashes last year, which were classified as “deliberate acts of unlawful interference”. The Germanwings pilot deliberately crashed his plane into the French Alps, while a suspected bomb blast was held responsible for the Metrojet plane crash at the Sinai peninsula.
The Iata report therefore recorded 136 fatalities, compared to the 641 in 2014 and a five-year average of 504. However, add in the Germanwings and Metrojet incidents, said Iata, and the total number of deaths rose to 510.
The 2015 accident rate in hull losses per one million flights, was 0.32, compared with 0.27 in 2014 and 0.46 in the previous five years.
