Air Travel Safety Continues to Improve
Flying has become increasingly safer, with the risk of death during air travel halving with each subsequent decade since the 1960s, according to a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Between 2018 and 2022, the average fatality rate was one death for every 13.7 million passengers globally, compared to one in every 7.9 million passengers from 2008 to 2017 and one in every 350,000 passengers during the period from 1968 to 1977.
“Flight safety continues to improve,” said Arnold Barnett from MIT, a co-author of the study. The data was published in the Journal of Air Transport Management.
From 1978 to 1987, the average rate was one death for every 750,000 passengers, while from 1988 to 1997, it was one in every 1.3 million. In the period from 1998 to 2007, there was one fatality for every 2.7 million passengers. Barnett notes that the progress in enhancing flight safety is not guaranteed.
The last major aviation accident on U.S. soil occurred in 2009 when a Bombardier aircraft operated by Colgan Air crashed, resulting in the deaths of all 49 people on board. The fatal flight was from New York to Buffalo.
Recent incidents involving runway incursions in the U.S., some of which were narrowly avoided, have made headlines. Boeing faced challenges when part of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 Max detached during flight.
Researchers highlight that there are also differences in safety levels between countries. The list of the safest countries for air travel includes the United States, EU member states, Montenegro, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, Israel, Japan, and New Zealand.
The second category includes Bahrain, Bosnia, Brazil, Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Turkey, the Philippines, Chile, and the Republic of South Africa.
Although aviation risks are higher in other countries that fall into the third category, these risks have also been halved during the period from 2018 to 2022, as reported by MIT researchers.
