Is it safe to fly? As ANOTHER jet crashes, plane disaster fatalities soar 300% but experts reveal 2014 is still one of SAFEST years in aviation history
- Air travel experts claim this year is still one of safest in aviation history
- Fatalities of passengers and crew killed in plane crashes rises 498 in year
- Three billion people flew safely on 36.4 million flights last year
In a week that has seen three major air disasters, just days before the busiest weekend for airports over the summer holidays, questions are being raised about the safety of air travel.
After a Swiftair flight crashed today, killing 119 people on board, a TransAsia Airways jet fell from the sky yesterday with 47 dead, and the Malaysia Airlines jet that was shot down over Ukraine last week with 298 fatalities, travellers are asking whether it is safe to fly.
Aviation experts claim 2014 is one of the safest years in air transport history in terms of the number of crashes, however, figures reveal fatalities from air disasters have soared by 300 per cent from last year, including the three major plane crashes in the past week.
Flowers in tribute to the victims of flight MH17 are laid around a cutout reading 'Why', near the entrance to the military airport in Eindhoven, southern Netherlands
Third disaster in a week: An Air Algerie flight carrying 119 people from Burkina Faso to Algeria's capital crashed today
There have been 763 passengers and crew killed in plane disasters so far this year - 498 higher than the 265 people that died in 2013.
The figure is 396 higher than the 10-year average to July of 376.
It also makes July the fifth worst month in aviation history in terms of aviation disaster fatalities.
However, air travel experts are urging holidaymakers that it is still safe to fly.
Harro Ranter, president of the Aviation Safety Network, described 2014 as ‘among the safest years in modern aviation history – since 1946’.
A local resident watches the forensic investigation among the wreckage of crashed TransAsia Airways flight GE222 on the outlying island of Penghu, Taiwan
A sea of floral tributes is placed for the victims of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 that was downed in eastern Ukraine, at a terminal building of Schiphol Airport, near Amsterdam
He added the number of fatal plane accidents this year – including today’s Algerian jet – is 12 – five below the ten-year average to July 24.
The 12 incidents in the past seven months include the TransAsia aircraft that crashed while trying to land on an island off Taiwan, killing all 47 people on board.
The figure is down from the 10-year average of 17 fatal crashes.
Mr Ranter said: ‘The recent accidents do not suggest that there is a specific common underlying safety issue.’
However, figures by the network, which tracks crashes and fatalities worldwide, reveal the number of people killed in air travel disasters has increased significantly already this year, due to the two Malaysia Airlines disasters.
A relative of a passenger onboard the TransAsia Airways Flight GE222 that crashed on the Taiwanese island of Penghu, cries at a funeral parlor in Penghu
The total number of passengers and crew killed on board the missing MH370, and on board the MH17 flight which was shot down while flying over Ukraine is 517.
Ranter told www.thestar.com: ‘It has been an exceptional year because of these two high-profile accidents, which really mark the safety profile of this year.
‘[The number of fatal crashes is] quite significantly below the 10-year average, although the number of fatalities is markedly higher because of these two high-profile accidents.’
According to International Air Transport Association, which represents 240 of the world’s airlines, more than three billion people flew safely on 36.4 million flights last year.
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