Frowns at Non release of Final Accident Reports
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released the 2023 Annual Safety Report for global aviation which shows that “aviation continues to make progress on safety with several 2023 parameters showing “best-ever” results.”
According to the report, there “were no hull losses or fatal accidents involving passenger jet aircraft in 2023. However, there was a single fatal accident involving a turboprop aircraft, resulting in 72 fatalities. There were 37 million aircraft movements in 2023 (jet and turboprop), an increase of 17% on the previous year.”
Specifically on the Africa region, the report notes that the region “has had no jet hull losses or fatal accidents since 2020. Additionally, 2023 marked the fifth occurrence of Africa reporting zero fatal turboprop accidents, with the first instance recorded in 2015.”
The all accident rate was 0.80 per million sectors in 2023, the fatality risk improved to 0.03 in 2023 from 0.11 in 2022 and 0.11 for the five years, 2019-2023, IATA member airlines and IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registered airlines experienced no fatal accident in 2023, a single fatal accident occurred in 2023, on a turboprop aircraft, resulting in 72 fatalities which is reduced from five fatal accidents in 2022 and an improvement on the five-year average (2019-2023) which was five.”
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General said: the performance demonstrates that flying is the safest mode of transport but noted that “two high profile accidents in the first month of 2024 show that, even if flying is among the safest activities a person can do, there is always room to improve. This is what we have done throughout our history. And we will continue to make flying ever safer,”
Safety as a shared responsibility
“Safety enhancements and the prevention of future accidents stem from learning from past incidents. For airlines, this means cultivating a robust safety culture where every employee feels accountable for safety and is motivated and expected to report safety-related information. For states, it involves providing timely, comprehensive, and public accident reports. Out of 226 accidents in the past six years, only 121 final accident reports have been made available. This shortfall is not only a blatant disregard for the Chicago Convention but also undermines the safety of our passengers and crew. Governments and their agencies must step up their efforts,” said Walsh.