science & techanalysisOur World in Data
Commercial flying has become roughly 100 times safer since the 1970s
In the 1970s there were about six fatal airliner accidents for every million commercial flights, roughly one fatal accident in every 165,000 flights. Today the rate is far lower, with fatal accidents now rare enough that many years pass without any in major airline service. Gains came from better aircraft design, jet engines that rarely fail, radar and satellite navigation, and detailed investigations after every accident. Each crash feeds lessons into pilot training, maintenance and air traffic rules.
Accident investigators find the chain of causes, then airlines, manufacturers and regulators change designs, checklists and training. Engines, flight computers and warning systems are tested to rigorous standards, and pilots train in simulators for rare emergencies. Each fix reduces the risk for all later flights.
Flying is now one of the safest ways to travel, which is why safety rules are built around learning from every failure. The record shows how a system that studies its mistakes can improve dramatically over decades.
Aviation safety improved in the same way that railways and ships did in earlier eras, through reporting near misses and sharing lessons between countries. The result is a steady decline in risk per mile even as the number of flights grew enormously.
background
Aviation safety is the study and practice of managing risks in aviation. This includes preventing aviation accidents and incidents through research, training aviation personnel, protecting passengers and the general public, and designing safer aircraft and aviation infrastructure.
The aviation industry is subject to significant regulations and oversight to reduce risks across all aspects of flight. Adverse weather conditions such as turbulence, thunderstorms, icing, and reduced visibility are also recognized as major contributing factors to aviation safety.
Aviation security focuses on protecting air travelers, aircraft and infrastructure from intentional harm or disruption, rather than unintentional mishaps.
From Wikipedia: Aviation safety (CC BY-SA 4.0) ↗
