Flying is the safest form of long distance travel and it’s getting safer
May 16, 2017
Aviation has been proving to be the safest form of long distance travel. According to the International Air Transport Agency (IATA), more than 3.5 billion people flew safely on 37.6 million flights in 2015. Similarly there were over 40 million safe flights in 2016 despite some fatal air crashes.
The worst five years for aircraft fatalities were 1945, 1944, 1943, 1972 and 1985 and the worst ever air crash in history was a ground collision in Tenerife on 27 March 1977. The collision took place between two B747 of Pan Am and KLM on a foggy runway, leaving 583 people dead. Now, flying has become the safer form of travel satisfying increasing number of air passengers.
International Air Transport Agency (IATA) published Annual Safety Report in its 53rd year of publication. The report features commercial aviation’s safety performance, challenges and opportunities. It includes comprehensive documents such as accident data and analysis and also mitigation strategies.
It has been IATA’s flagship safety document since 1964, providing the industry with critical information derived from the analysis of aviation accidents to understand safety risks in the industry and propose mitigation strategies. This report is made available to the industry for free distribution.
IATA’s safety report from 2011 to 2016 is represented by the following figure:
Aviation industry of Nepal is also producing minimal incidents as compared to past. Being a geographically complex country, aviation is always a challenge to Nepal. Mostly airline operators have to conduct flights on STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) routes with certain complexity such as instantly varying weather conditions, vibrant terrains and short challenging runways. Despite all this circumstances, flying has become the safest form of travel these days in Nepal.
