Over the past six to eight weeks we have seen a multitude of articles, interviews and other sources of information telling us how safe 2012 was for commercial aviation. According to each source and specific safety metrics, operators of large commercial jets enjoyed one of the safest years on record, if not the safest. In fact, the 2012 metrics show about a 50 percent improvement over 2011, in itself a record year. Everyone in aviation should be proud to achieve such performance. But, as aviation professionals, we know that challenges continue, especially because all the commercial jet accidents we saw in 2012 were preventable.
The accident rate is the ultimate safety performance indicator, and may in fact be an indication of a declining latent risk in operations, especially when analyzed over long periods. However, it is important to understand that precursors to accidents (safety risk) continue to exist in aviation. System failures and human errors sometimes produce …
