Worldwide fatal air accident tally declined in 2022, says airline association

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - The number of fatal air accidents worldwide declined in 2022 compared to the previous year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Tuesday.

The annual report by IATA also showed a reduction in the fatality risk in the five years in 2018-2022, with five accidents involving the loss of life of passengers and crew members occurring last year.

This was a decline from seven in 2021 and an improvement on the five-year average between, which was also seven, said the Geneva-based IATA.

Among IATA member airlines, only one fatal accident was recorded in 2022, resulting in 19 deaths.

"Accidents are rare in aviation. There were five fatal accidents among 32.2 million flights in 2022," said the association's Director General Willie Walsh.

"That tells us that flying is among the safest activities in which a person can engage. But even though the risk of flying is exceptionally low, it is not risk-free."

IATA also noted that despite the reduction in the number of fatal accidents, the number of deaths rose from 121 in 2021 to 158 in 2022.

- Fatal China accident

Most of the fatalities in 2022 occurred in a single aircraft accident in China that claimed 132 lives.

The airline involved was not an IATA member but was on the organization's Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registry.

The next-largest loss of life occurred in an accident to an IATA member in Tanzania that resulted in 19 fatalities.

Walsh said that careful analysis of the emerging trends showed that there was room to make flying even safer than it currently is.

"This year's report, for example, tells us that we need to make some special efforts on turboprop operations in Africa and Latin America," said the IATA chief, stressing that safety was aviation's highest priority.

The fatal accident rate improved to 0.16 per million sectors for 2022, from 0.27 per million sectors in 2021, and was ahead of the five-year fatal accident rate of 0.2.

The all-accident rate was 1.21 per million sectors, a reduction compared to 1.26 for the five years 2018-2022, though an increase compared to 1.13 accidents per million sectors in 2021.

The number of turboprop accidents declined in 2022 compared to 2021, accounting for four of the five accidents last year with loss of life among passengers and crew onboard.

Though sectors flown by turboprops represented just 10.6% of the total, turboprops were involved in 36% of all accidents, 80% of fatal accidents, and 16% of fatalities last year.

Six regions showed improvement or no deterioration in the turboprop hull loss rate in 2022 compared to the five-year average.

The two regions where increases were observed compared to the five-year average were Latin America/Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.

IATA is the trade association for the world's airlines, representing some 300 airlines or 83% of total air traffic.