The number of people killed in air crashes around the world more than doubled in 2005, with 1 050 victims in 34 fatal accidents, according to statistics from trade magazine Flight International.
The number of fatalities in both passenger and freight plane crashes is the highest since 2000 and compares with 466 in 28 accidents in 2004, the figures showed.
David Learmount, operations and safety editor at Flight International, said: ”Airline safety in 2005 took a step backwards in terms of the number of fatal accidents and resulting passenger and crew deaths.
”It was a disappointing 12 months given the outstanding safety performance in the previous two years.”
Learmount pointed out that fatal crashes in 2005 involved airlines based in countries with ”mediocre or poor safety records” compared with the rest of the world and tended to involve older aircraft.
None of the world’s major airlines suffered a fatal crash last year.
Crashes included two in Nigeria, in which 225 people were killed, and three in Sudan. All involved old Soviet-built aircraft.
A West Caribbean Airways crash in Venezuela last August claimed the lives of 152 passengers and eight crew.
In the same month, there was also a severe loss of life when a Helios Airways 737 jet crashed into hills north of the Greek capital Athens, killing 115 passengers and six crew.
According to the magazine’s statistics, the number of fatal crashes has shown a downward trend since 1996, when 1 840 people were killed in 57 incidents — the highest number in the last 10 years. – Sapa-AFP