Published on Tuesday, January 1, 2019

2018 was one of the safest years ever for commercial aviation

Despite several high-profile accidents, 2018 was one of the safest years ever for commercial aviation, according to Aviation Safety Network data.

There were 15 fatal airliner accidents, resulting in 556 fatalities.

This makes 2018 the third safest year ever by the number of fatal accidents and the ninth safest in terms of fatalities.

The safest year in aviation history was 2017 with 10 accidents and 44 lives lost.

Based on 2018 figures, the accident rate is one fatal accident per 2,540,000 flights.

Aviation Safety Network CEO Harro Ranter said the level of safety has increased significantly.

"If the accident rate had remained the same as 10 years ago, there would have been 39 fatal accidents last year," he said.

"At the accident rate of the year 2000, there would have been even 64 fatal accidents. This shows the enormous progress in terms of safety in the past two decades."