New figures from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) demonstrate that aviation’s safety record has improved over the last year, despite headwinds as the industry exits pandemic.
More passengers, more flights, fewer fatalities
The data, announced at the 14th ICAO Air Navigation Conference in Montréal, shows a falling fatality rate, down from 50 per billion passengers in 2022, to 17 per billion in 2023. In addition, the global accident rate “decreased to 1.87 accidents per million departures in 2023, down from 2.05 in 2022”, an ICAO release said.
What’s more, the industry managed to achieve these improvements while serving a billion more passengers in 2023 (4.2 billion globally), than in 2022 (3.2 billion). Flight departures also increased by around 4 million to hit 35 million in 2023.
Best year out of last five
Even more notably, the report indicates that 2023 had the best safety record of any year in the past five when taking global accident rate, number of fatal accidents, total fatalities and fatality rate into account. There was one fatal accident in 2023, in which 72 people lost their lives – a “net improvement compared to 2022 in which seven accidents brought 160 fatalities,” the organisation said.
“These impressive safety figures reflect the dedication and hard work of the entire aviation community,” said ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano. “Our unwavering goal remains zero fatalities in commercial aviation. Achieving this ambitious target requires a collective effort. Together, we can and will make the skies even safer for every passenger and crew member.”
Turbulence and abnormal runway contact at root of most accidents
Accident data too was revealed showing that turbulence caused more accidents than anything else, followed by abnormal runway contact. Together, these two categories accounted for half of all accidents for the year. There was one loss of control inflight that resulted in all 72 fatalities recorded in 2023.
In terms of aircraft damage, ICAO says two airplanes were destroyed during the year: one due to a loss of control on ground and the other from an in-air loss of control accident. Additionally, eight airplanes sustained substantial damage from abnormal runway contact.
Other factors resulting in substantial aircraft damage included aerodrome, bird strike, ground collision, ground handling, system/component failure or malfunction (non-powerplant), and wind shear or thunderstorm.
Global aviation safety plan
Work to drive further improvements continues. ICAO is implementing a Global Aviation Safety Plan with targeted initiatives addressing what it deems “high-risk areas.” The report highlights five global high-risk categories of occurrence which in 2023 accounted for 100% of fatalities, 100% of fatal accidents, and 9% of the total number of accidents. They are:
- controlled flight into terrain
- loss of control in-flight
- mid-air collision
- runway excursion
- and runway incursion
To address these the body is “enhancing our audit programmes, updating global standards, and providing tailored assistance to Member States,” the body’s Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar said. “We call on all our partners – governments, airlines, airports, air traffic service providers and manufacturers – to intensify their safety efforts and collaborate closely with ICAO.”
