The number of fatal air accidents involving passenger aircraft fell by nearly 40 per cent year on year in 2019, making it one of the safest years for commercial aviation despite the high-profile crash involving a Boeing 737 Max, according to an aviation consultancy.
A review by To70 has revealed there were a total of 86 air accidents in 2019, eight of which were fatal and resulted in 257 deaths. This is compared to 160 incidents in 2018, 13 of which lead to 534 fatalities.
Last year’s figures are lower than the average of the last five years, according to To70, and equate to a fatal accident rate of 0.18 per million flights.
Meanwhile, the Aviation Safety Network has called 2019 “one of the safest years ever for commercial aviation”, with 20 of the recorded accidents involving airliners. However, the number of fatalities is the third-lowest on record.
2019 saw the second high-profile accident involving a Boeing 737 Max when an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed in March, killing all 157 people on board. An earlier incident in October 2018 on a Lion Air flight killed 189 people.
It also saw a Sukhoi Superjet 100 operated by Russian airline Aeroflot burst into flames during an emergency landing, killing 41 of the 78 people on board despite efforts to evacuate the aircraft.
In a blog post, To70 said: “Whilst the accident rate for 2019 was low, there are fundamental issues about how we organise our industry that must be addressed. Fatal accidents involving the Boeing 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 have asked difficult questions of the aviation industry. The issue of derivatives – when a new model of an aircraft type is considered a development of a previous one – is something that is rarely discussed outside the airworthiness world. The question as to whether the 737 Max was a derivative too far is still unanswered.
“These accidents also raise important issues about how much information and – most importantly – training is needed on new systems. Questions about how aviation authorities delegate powers to manufacturers are also being asked in wider circles than before.”
Boeing announced the sudden departure of chief executive Dennis Muilenburg at the end of 2019, saying a change of leadership was needed to restore trust in the company following the 737 Max disasters. The manufacturer is temporarily halting production of the aircraft this month to deal with a backlog of deliveries while it waits for the Federal Aviation Administration to recertify the planes to return to the skies.