ASN's 2005 Accident Report Is Generally Positive with Some Exceptions

The Netherlands-based Aviation Safety Network (ASN) reports there were 35 fatal accidents worldwide in 2005, compared to an average of 40 per year during the 1995-2004 periods.  There were 1059 people killed in airliner accidents in 2005.

Although the number of accidents in 2005 was significantly lower than the ten-year average, the number of fatalities last year was almost equal to the 1995-2004 ten-year average, because of the high number of serious accidents.

ASN says a positive downward trend in accidents can be seen for North, Central and South America, as well as Asia and Australasia.  Europe's steady decrease however was halted in 2005 at a ten-year average of 6.7 accidents. Africa remained the most unsafe continent with 13 fatal accidents (37%), even though it accounts for only about 4.5 percent of all world aircraft departures.

Twenty-one of the 35 fatal accidents in 2005 involved passenger aircraft, compared to eleven fatal passenger flight accidents in 2004, which was an all-time low.  There were eight cargo plane crashes in 2005, both fatal and non-fatal.

According to statistics gathered by the Flight Safety Foundation, CFIT (controlled flight into terrain), the approach and landing phase, loss of control, and human factors, remain areas of concern.

In 2005, CFIT accidents were probably responsible for almost one quarter of all fatal accidents, killing over 160; twelve accidents happened in the approach and landing phase, killing 228; and in August an MD-80 crashed, and 160 were killed, when the flight crew was unable to recover from an engine flameout, subsequent stall and a high-speed descent, at night, over unlit mountainous terrain.

Since most accident investigations are not completed yet, ASN says it's too early to tell in what cases human actions were a causal factor in accidents in 2005.  It opines, however, that the investigation into the August 14 crash of a Cypriot B-737 in Greece will surely focus on questions like why the pressurization mode selector was left in the "manual" position after maintenance, why the crew did not detect this, and how the crew interpreted the various warnings and indications.  01-07-2006.

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