2009 was the year with the lowest number of fatal accidents on record for the 31 Member States of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), according to preliminary data. However this good safety record was overshadowed by the accident of an Airbus A330 over the Atlantic. This was the only fatal accident for aeroplanes registered in an EASA Member State in commercial air transport*. Despite this, the number of fatalities in 2009 (228 fatalities) is significantly above the decade average. The high number of non-fatal accidents (24) in 2009 indicates that further progress in safety is necessary. In comparison, the decade 1999-2008 had every year on average 27 non-fatal and 5 fatal accidents with 92 fatalities.
For other world regions the safety record in 2009 has been marred by an accident of an Airbus A310 in Comoros and a Tu-154 in Iran. In total there were 41 fatal accidents involving aircraft registered outside EASA Member States. This is below the decade average of 51 fatal accidents (1999-2008), but not the lowest in the decade. In these accidents there were 573 fatalities, the second lowest number in the decade.
Preliminarydata shows that in 2009, the number of fatal accidents worldwide in commercialair transport with helicopters was the second lowest for the decade: only inthe year 2000 the number of fatal accidents was lower. When looking at thethree-year moving average, it appears that for the last five years the averageis more or less constant. The accident numbers for EASA Member States remainsmall and no further conclusions can be drawn. Two fatal accidents occurred in Europe in 2009. Two people died in Poland when anemergency medical helicopter crashed. In April, sixteen people died when ahelicopter crashed during an offshore flight from an oil platform to Aberdeen, Scotland.&
Furtherinformation on safety in civil aviation will be included in the “Annual SafetyReview 2009” due to be published by EASA later this year.
* Fatal Accidents categorised as such using ICAO Annex 13definition. Accidents include aeroplanes or helicopters with maximum take-offmass above 2 250kg conducting commercial air transport operations (includingair taxi, ferry/positioning and emergency medical services). Aircraftregistration was used to assign aircraft into world regions. All data is preliminary and subject to reviewand change as more information becomes available.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) was set up by the EU in 2003 to promote the highest common standards of safety and environmental protection in civil aviation. Based in Cologne, the Agency currently employs nearly 500 experts and administrators from all over Europe
Dr. Daniel Holtgen, Head of Communications
Tel.: + 49 (221) 89990 2002 - Fax: + 49 (221) 89990 2502
Savina Zakoula, Press Officer
Tel.: + 49 (221) 89990 2008 - Fax: + 49 (221) 89990 2508
