It now is apparent that 2013 will go down as one of the safest years in aviation history, particularly in terms of the number of fatalities in commercial air transport operations. According to preliminary data released by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the number of fatalities suffered in scheduled commercial operations fell by more than 50 percent in 2013 from the previous year, despite the fact that the number of fatal accidents remained the same year over year (see “Another Record Year”).
The numbers don’t match up exactly because different organizations include or exclude different types of aircraft from different types of operations in tabulating accidents and calculating accident rates, but the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had a similar message: the number fatalities suffered worldwide last year was down significantly from the yearly average for the period 2003–2012…
