Press release: 2002 safest year for civil aviation since 1946
Date: 3 January 2003
the Aviation Safety Network / Harro Ranter
The Aviation Safety Network today released the 2002 airliner accident statistics showing that, from a passenger\'s perspective, 2002 was the safest year for civil aviation since 1946.
The number of fatal passenger flight accidents (20) was never so low. Africa was relatively the most unsafe continent.
In the year 2002 a total of 37 fatal multi-engine airliner accidents caused fatal injuries to 1098 occupants. An estimated 78 people on the ground were killed. Focusing on just passenger flights, 2002 achieved an all-time low of 20 fatal accidents. The total number of 37 fatal accidents, which includes a.o. cargo and ferry flights, makes 2002 the sixth safest year since 1946. The average number of fatal accidents over the 1992-2001 period is 47 accidents per year.
The 2002 fatality rate (percentage of occupants killed in fatal airliner accidents) of 82% was down from last year, but still much higher than the 1992-2001 average of 73%.
Trends show a decrease in the number of fatal accidents for Europe, North-, South-, and Central America over the past five years. Africa on the other hand shows an continuous increase from a 10-year average of 5,1 accidents in 1993 to 7,6 accidents per year in 2002.
Last yearÆs accidents again highlighted the four aviation safety priorities, identified by the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF):
* Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)
CFIT occurs when an airworthy aircraft under the control of the flight crew is flown unintentionally into terrain (mostly mountains/hills), obstacles or water, usually with no prior awareness by the crew. Preliminary investigation result show that CFIT accidents in 2002 were responsible for almost 30% of all fatal accidents. Some 11 accidents were CFIT-related, totalling 410 fatalities.
* Approach and landing
2002 did show a rise in the number of approach and landing accidents. In 2002 they accounted for 54% of all accidents, compared to 38% in 2001.
* Loss of control
Approximately ten accidents last year can be attributed to a loss of control of some kind. On July 28 for instance, an Ilyushin 86 crashed when the horizontal stabilizer spontaneously shifted to the full down position two seconds after takeoff.
* Human factors
It's too early to tell in what cases aviation personnel were a causal factor in accidents in 2002. However, the July 1 collision over Germany seems an interesting case from a human factors point of view. A Boeing 757 and a Tupolev 154 collided over Germany when the Tupolev-crew complied with ATC instructions to descend instead of following their TCAS instruction to climb.
Please bear in mind that human factors does not mean \"pilot error\"; in human factors it is important to determine which mistakes were made, why, under what circumstances etc.
The figures have been compiled using the airliner accident database of the Aviation Safety Network, the Internet leader in aviation safety information. The Aviation Safety Network uses information from authoritative and official sources like NTSB, ICAO etc. The goal of the Aviation Safety Network is to provide everyone with a (professional) interest in aviation with up-to-date, complete and reliable authoritative information on airliner accidents and safety issues.
More information
http://aviation-safety.net/pubs/2002.pdf (ASN Statistical Summary 2002)
http://aviation-safety.net
