The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the aviation safety performance for 2009 showing that the year’s accident rate for Western-built jet aircraft as the second lowest in aviation history. The 2009 global accident rate (measured in hull losses per million flights) was 0.71. That is equal to one accident for every 1.4 million flights. This is a significant improvement of the 0.81 rate recorded in 2008 (one accident for 1.2 million flights), IATA said.

The 2009 rate was the second lowest in aviation history, just above the 2006 rate of 0.65. Compared to 10 years ago, the accident rate has been cut 36 per cent from the rate recorded in 2000.

In absolute numbers, 2009 saw 19 accidents involving western built jet aircraft compared to 22 in 2008 and 90 accidents (including all aircraft types, Eastern and Western built) compared to 109 in 2008; 18 fatal accidents (all aircraft types) compared to 23 in 2008; 685 fatalities compared to 502 in 2008.

“Safety is the industry’s number one priority,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO. “Even in a decade during which airlines lost an averageof US$5 billion per year, we still managed to improve our safety record. Last year,2.3 billion people flew safely. But everyfatality is a human tragedy that remindsus of the ultimate goal of zero accidentsand zero fatalities,”

IATA member airlines outperformed the industry average with a Western-built jet hull accident rate of 0.62. That rate is equal to one accident for every 1.6 million flights. In 2009 IATA marked a milestone in aviation safety with all IATA members – 231 carriers – making it on the registry of the IATA Operational Safety Audit.

IATA noted there are significant regional differences in the accident rate with North Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) having zero western-built jet hull losses in 2009. North America (0.41) and Europe (0.45) performed better than the global average of 0.71, while Asia-Pacific’s accident rate worsened to 0.86 in 2009 (compared to 0.58 in 2008) with three accidents involving carriers from the region.

The Middle East and North Africa region saw its accident rate rise to 3.32 (compared to 1.89 in 2008) with four accidents involving carriers from the region. Africa had an accident rate of 9.94, significantly higher than their 2008 rate of 2.12. Africa has once again the worst rate of the world. There were five Western-built jet hull losses with African carriers in 2009. African carriers represent two per cent of global traffic, but 26 per cent of global western-built jet hull losses.

Three main causes were identified by IATA: Runway excursions continue to be a problem, accounting for 26 per cent of all accidents in 2009, down 18 per cent from a year earlier; ground damage accounted for 10 per cent of all accidents; and pilot handling was identified as a contributing factor in 30 per cent of all accidents.