Favorable Comparisons

One commercial air transport airplane from a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) member state was involved in a fatal accident in 2014 — a Swiftair-­operated Air Algerie McDonnell Douglas MD-83 that crashed in Mali on July 24, killing all 116 passengers and crew, according to EASA’s Annual Safety Review, 2014 (Figure 1).¹

Twenty-six commercial transport airplanes from EASA member states were involved in nonfatal accidents in 2014, said the report, released in October 2015. In addition, 66 EASA commercial transport airplanes were involved in serious incidents.

No more than one fatal accident has occurred involving EASA commercial transport airplanes in any year since 2005, the report said, noting that there were no fatal accidents in 2010 and 2013.

The 116 fatalities in 2014 were considerably more than the 2004–2013 annual average of 52.4, the report said (Figure 2).