IATA member airlines outperformed the industry average
for accidents of all aircraft types (0.71 accidents per
million flights compared to 2.01), accounting for 13 of
the 75 accidents. Airlines on the IATA Operational
Safety Audit Registry (IOSA) experienced no
Western-built jet hull loss accidents. The total
accident rate (all aircraft types) for IOSA registered
carriers was 4.3 times better than the rate for non-IOSA
carriers (0.96 vs. 4.11). Today 381 airlines are on the
IOSA registry (www.iata.org/registry). For IATA’s 240+
airlines IOSA is a requirement for membership in the
association. That some 140 non-member airlines are on
the registry is a clear indication that IOSA has become
the global benchmark for airline operational safety
management.
“IOSA once again demonstrated its positive impact on
aviation safety. Carriers on the IOSA registry recorded
an accident rate that was more than four times better
than their non-registered counterparts. Not only did
IOSA registered carriers have a lower accident rate but
the accidents were less severe in terms of fatalities
and damage to aircraft,” said Tyler.
During 2012, IATA continued its work with airline
members to develop the Enhanced IOSA. Enhanced IOSA adds
a further dimension with a focus on airlines’ internal
quality assurance program to implement self-auditing
methodology based on IOSA principles.
Regional highlights—Western-built jet hull loss rates
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The following regions outperformed the global
Western-built jet hull loss rate of 0.20: Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS) (0.0), Europe (0.15), Middle
East and North Africa (0.0), North America (0.0), and
North Asia (0.0). The following regions saw
their safety performance improve in 2012 compared to
2011: the CIS (from 1.06 to 0.00), Latin America and the
Caribbean (from 1.28 to 0.42), Middle East and North
Africa (from 2.02 to 0.0) and North America (from 0.10
to 0.0).
The following regions saw safety performance decline in
2012 compare to 2011: Africa (from 3.27 to 3.71),
Asia-Pacific (from 0.25 to 0.48) and Europe (from 0.0 to
0.15). Latin America and the Caribbean posted a second
consecutive year of improvement (0.42 vs. 1.28) but the
region’s rate was still higher than the world average.
Safety in Africa - Africa registered a higher rate, from
3.27 in 2011 to 3.71 in 2012, and it is still the worst
performer by a large margin.
Africa’s Western-built jet hull loss rate showed
a higher rate versus 2011 (3.71 vs. 3.27). The region’s
accident rate for all aircraft types more than doubled
(12.44 accidents per million flights from 6.17 in 2011),
with 13 accidents in 2012 (up from 8 accidents in 2011).
African airlines on the IOSA registry had no accidents.
“Africa is a continent divided on performance. Airlines
on the IOSA registry are performing at or above industry
average rates. But the continent’s overall performance
is far from satisfactory. It should be as safe to travel
by air in Africa as it is in any other part of the
world,” said Tyler.
In
May 2012, IATA, with the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) and a host of other organizations,
committed to an Africa Strategic Improvement Action Plan
aimed at addressing safety deficiencies and
strengthening regulatory oversight in the region by
2015. The Plan was endorsed as part of the ‘Abuja
Declaration’ by the Ministerial meeting on Aviation
Safety and Security of the African Union in July and
endorsed at the Assembly of the African Union in January
2013.
“Stakeholders are united in their commitment to bring
all of Africa to world class safety levels through the
adoption of global standards. Passage of the Abuja
Declaration is a key step along this path,” Tyler said.
Critical to the success of this plan is mandatory
adoption of IOSA by African states.
Accident analysis -
Runway excursions, in which an aircraft departs a runway
during a landing or takeoff, were the most common type
of accident in 2012 (28% of total accidents). Most (82%)
of runway excursions occur following a stable approach
where the aircraft floated beyond the normal touchdown
point, or braking devices did not activate in a timely
manner, or because directional control was not
maintained after landing.
This type of accident continues to present challenges
for the industry. Despite an increase in the runway
excursion accident rate in 2012, the five-year trend in
actual accidents remains downward (2008:28, 2009:23,
2010:20, 2011:17, 2012:21). In 2013, IATA will continue
to work with industry partners to support regional
runway safety seminars and to update the IATA Runway
Excursion Risk Reduction (RERR) toolkit. Furthermore,
IOSA now requires that airlines make use of Flight Data
Analysis (FDA) programs which can help identify
precursors to runway excursions.
Loss of control in-flight -
Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I) is not one of the most
common accident categories (In 2008 there were 14 LOC-I
accidents followed by: 2009:9, 2010:10, 2011:8, 2012:6).
However, LOC-I accidents result in the most fatalities
(43% of all fatal accidents and 60% of all fatalities
from 2008-2012). IATA is working with industry partners
to implement a global LOC-I prevention program that will
assist operators to understand the factors involved in
these events. In addition, this program will provide
guidance for an enhanced pilot training and establish a
process for feedback into the IATA Training and
Qualification Initiative (ITQI).
Sharing information -
Data sharing is crucial to identifying trends that could
indicate a potential safety issue. In 2009, IATA
launched the Global Safety Information Center (GSIC).
This incorporates operational and safety information fed
by seven different databases. These are accident data,
operational safety reports, IOSA and IATA Safety Audit
for Ground Operations (ISAGO) audit findings, Flight
Data eXchange (FDX), an aircraft ground damage database
and a new cabin safety operational report database. More
than 460 different organizations around the globe are
already submitting information to GSIC. Continuing with
the work started with GSIC, IATA is introducing the new
operational data management initiative, incorporating
GSIC and expanding data management into other arenas
such as operations and infrastructure.
“Data collection and analysis underpins all safety
efforts. The more we understand about how accidents and
incidents occur, the better equipped we are to identify
the risk factors. This allows us to take mitigation
steps long before risks become a safety issue that could
contribute to an accident. In
a little more than one lifetime, aviation has gone from
being a high risk activity to a routine part of daily
life. As commercial aviation prepares to enter its
second century, we must live up to the ideals of our
industry’s pioneers and recommit ourselves to making
aviation ever safer,” said Tyler.
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