Montréal, 28
August 2024 – The International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced to delegates during its 14th ICAO Air Navigation Conference
underway in Montréal that aviation safety continued to improve despite the
operational challenges of the pandemic recovery.
The Organization’s Safety Report for scheduled commercial air
travel in 2023 shows that the fatality rate dropped to 17 people per billion
passengers in 2023, down from 50 people per billion passengers in 2022. The
global accident rate decreased to 1.87 accidents per million departures in
2023, down from 2.05 in 2022.
This occurred as passenger traffic increased to around 4.2 billion passengers
globally in 2023, up from 3.2 billion in 2022, and flight departures increased
to over 35 million in 2023, compared to around 31 million in 2022, and
represents progress towards the goals set forth in ICAO’s Global Aviation Safety Plan.
"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.”
The report indicates that 2023 was the safest year in the past five years in
terms of safety indicators such as, global accident rate, number of fatal
accidents, total fatalities and fatality rate. Regrettably, there was one fatal
accident in 2023, which took the lives of 72 people. While this is a net
improvement compared to 2022 in which seven accidents brought 160 fatalities,
it nevertheless underscores the importance of the work for the aviation
community to ensure safety remains a top priority in the sector.
“ICAO is committed to driving further improvements through our Global Aviation
Safety Plan and targeted initiatives addressing high-risk areas. We're
enhancing our audit programmes, updating global standards, and providing
tailored assistance to Member States.,” remarked ICAO Secretary General Juan
Carlos Salazar. “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.”
The report also provides a detailed breakdown of accidents by occurrence
category in 2023. Turbulence encounter (TURB) accounted for the most accidents,
followed by abnormal runway contact (ARC) related accidents. These two
categories combined represented around half of all accidents for the year.
Notably, there was one loss of control inflight (LOC-I) related fatal accident
that resulted in all 72 fatalities recorded in 2023.
In terms of aircraft damage, two airplanes were destroyed during the year: one
due to a loss of control on ground (LOC-G) accident and the other from a LOC-I
accident. Additionally, eight airplanes sustained substantial damage from
ARC-related accidents.
Other categories contributing to accidents with substantial aircraft damage
included aerodrome (ADRM), bird strike (BIRD), ground collision (GCOL), ground
handling (RAMP), system/component failure or malfunction (non-powerplant)
(SCF-NP), and wind shear or thunderstorm (WSTRW).
The report highlights five global high-risk categories of occurrence (G-HRCs)
identified by ICAO. These G-HRCs are: controlled flight into terrain (CFIT),
loss of control in-flight (LOC-I), mid-air collision (MAC), runway excursion
(RE), and runway incursion (RI). In 2023, these G-HRCs collectively accounted
for 100% of fatalities, 100% of fatal accidents, and 9% of the total number of
accidents.
The vision of the Global Aviation Safety Plan is to achieve and
maintain the goal of zero fatalities in commercial operations by 2030 and
beyond. To do so, operational safety risks – primarily the G-HRCs – need to be
identified and addressed. Through collaboration with States, regions, and
industry stakeholders, ICAO is helping to implement specific safety enhancement
initiatives for each area.
About ICAO
A specialized agency of the United Nations, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) leads the international alignment of technical standards and strategies, facilitating the safe, secure, and sustainable development of its 193 member states’ aviation sectors and air services.
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communications@icao.int
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