With just 10 crashes, 2017 safest year for civil aviation since 1946: Reports

A total of 10 crashes of civil passenger and cargo planes claimed 44 lives in 2017.

Pic courtesy: Twitter/@British_Airways

The Hague: 2017 was the safest year for civil aviation since plane crash statistics were first compiled in 1946, two industry studies have found.

"The year 2017 turned out to be the safest year ever for commercial aviation," the Aviation Safety Network in a statement.

A total of 10 crashes of civil passenger and cargo planes claimed 44 lives. Five of the fatal accidents involved cargo flights and five passenger flights, it added.

In 2016, ASN recorded 16 accidents and 303 lives lost. Five accidents involved cargo flights, five were passenger flights. "Given the expected worldwide air traffic of about 36,800,000 flights, the accident rate is one fatal passenger flight accident per 7,360,000 flights," it said.

Preliminary ASN data show 2017 to be safest year in aviation history https://t.co/ytwak4U4Qw pic.twitter.com/tg2vw4r4WJ — Aviation Safety Net (@AviationSafety) December 30, 2017

On the other hand, To70 agency also said in its annual report that no major airline crashed a plane.

"In 2016, there were 71 civil aviation accidents of which six resulted in fatalities. This year, 2017, the number is even lower, 111 accidents, two of which included fatalities. There were no accidents in 2017 related to unlawful interference. A total of 13 lives lost in two regional airline accidents," it said.

To70 added, "An estimated three percent growth in air traffic for 2017 over 2016 means that the fatal accident rate for a large aeroplane in commercial air transport is again reduced; this time to 0.06 fatal accidents per million flights. That is a rate of one fatal accident for every 16 million flights."

To70’s civil aviation safety review 2017 https://t.co/9J9Ys9dUNh #Aviation #Safety #Worldaviation pic.twitter.com/1IlTOO1jKk — To70 Aviation (@To70_Aviation) January 2, 2018

But while 2017`s statistics were good news, "a note of caution needs to be sounded", the To70 report warned. "While the safety levels of modern civil passenger aeroplanes remain high, the extraordinarily low accident rate this year must be seen as a case of good fortune," it said.

One worry for the future is the many pieces of electronic equipment that passengers carry in luggage because of the risk of fire or the danger of lithium-ion batteries exploding, the report said.

The To70 report used data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Accidents involving military planes, including military transport aircraft, were not taken into account in the study.

(With AFP inputs)