Aircraft Accidents

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31003, 8 March 1966, Page 16

Aircraft Accidents

The scale of aircraft disasters has increased with the size of airliners. The three crashes in Japan within the last month throw this into sharp relief. The deaths of 327 people in these crashes give the accidents the proportions of major disasters at sea. They recall two tragic months in 1962 when, in each period, three air crashes killed more than 300 people. Yet airliner crashes and the loss of life have not increased proportionately to the growth of air travel. The safety of air travel continues to advance with technical and navigation improvements and with the ability of airliners to fly for most of their journeys above weather that might imperil their safety. Crashes are investigated wherever possible in great detail so that lessons which might be applied to ensure future safety are learned. The growth of air travel around the world has been so great in recent years that the number of mishaps is remarkably small. Air travel has recently been increasing at an annual rate of about 15 per cent. In 1964 international and domestic airlines belonging to the International Air Travel Association carried 154 million passengers on scheduled flights. This year the number may be about 200 million. Death tolls in airliner crashes reflect the trend in air transport towards bigger airliners. The average seating capacity of the 3137 aircraft operated by I.A.T.A. members at the end of 1964 was 91. Their fleets included 964 jet airliners. More than 1200 jets are now flying and, although not all of the new’ airliners are large types, the average seating capacity has almost certainly risen. The chances'of a single crash entailing a great loss of life are therefore increased. This does not reflect a higher risk in air travel, which is, in fact, a comparatively safe method—and an increasingly safe method—of travel.