ICAO issues 2013 Safety Report, accidents down 21% in 2012

ICAO issued (Sep-2013) its 2013 safety report. The report stated the air transport system carried approximately 2.9 billion passengers in 2012, up 5% since 2011. Total scheduled passenger traffic in 2012, measured as revenue passenger-kilometres (RPKs), grew at a rate of 5.5% year-on-year. The number of accidents decreased by 21% and the global accident rate involving scheduled commercial operations for 2012 has decreased "significantly" to 3.2 accidents per million departures. Compared to 2011, the number of fatalities decreased by 10% making 2012 the safest year with regard to fatalities since 2004. ICAO is working in partnership with the international aviation community to achieve continuous reductions in the global accident rate, with an emphasis on improving safety performance in those regions experiencing significantly higher accident rates or having specific safety challenges. Accident rate by region:

• Africa: 4.8 per million departures;
• Asia: 2.7;
• Europe: 4.2;
• Latin America and the Caribbean: 3.8;
• Northern America: 2.8;
• Oceania: 0. [more - original PR]