Two deadly crashes in final week of 2024: How safe is air travel?

MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2024
Two deadly crashes in final week of 2024: How safe is air travel?

Travellers have been left shaken after the final week of 2024 also proved its most deadly in aviation, with hundreds killed in two plane crashes.

The first accident took place in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day (Wednesday), when an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed near the city of Aktau, killing at least 38 of the 67 people on board. The aircraft is the second passenger plane thought to have been downed by Russian air defence systems, after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down in 2014, killing all 298 people onboard.  

Another, even deadlier crash occurred on Sunday, when a Jeju Air passenger aircraft veered off the runway and collided with a fence at Muan International Airport in South Korea. Only two of the 181 people on board survived. Two Thai passengers were among the 179 victims of the crash.

However, air travel remains the safest form of transportation per kilometre covered, with just over 1,000 deaths recorded in the decade leading up to 2024, according to a report published by Boeing this year

Citing data from the International Civil Aviation Organisation and Commercial Aviation Safety Team, the report provides details of plane crashes over the past 10 years:

Causes of accidents

  • Losing control of plane: 8 incidents, 707 deaths
  • Malfunctioning plane system: 2 incidents, 158 deaths
  • Runway issues: 5 incidents, 131 deaths 
  • Fuel issue: 1 incident, 71 deaths 
  • Weather: 1 incident, 9 deaths 
  • Ice formation: 1 incident, 12 deaths
  • Ground management issue: 3 incidents, 3 deaths
  • Mid-air collision: 1 incident, 7 deaths
  • Hitting obstacle during take-off/landing: 1 incident, 5 deaths
  • Runway encroachment: 3 incidents, 5 deaths
  • Engine malfunction: 1 incident, 1 death
  • Others: 1 incident, 1 death

Phases of accidents

  • Departure and climb: 3 incidents, 347 deaths
  • Cruising: 3 incidents, 278 deaths
  • Take-off: 4 incidents, 174 deaths
  • Final approach: 2 incidents, 100 deaths
  • Landing: 10 incidents, 91 deaths
  • Descent: 1 incident, 71 deaths
  • Initial climb: 2 incidents, 17 deaths
  • Taxiing/pre-flight: 3 incidents, no deaths

Accidents per region

  • Asia: 7 incidents, 534 deaths
  • Europe and North Atlantic: 6 incidents, 173 deaths
  • South and East Africa: 1 incident, 157 deaths
  • North America: 6 incidents, 119 deaths
  • South America: 3 incidents, 74 deaths
  • Middle East: 3 incidents, 64 deaths
  • Central and West Africa: 2 incidents, 15 deaths
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