Global Improvement Attributed To Tighter Regulation

The FAA calls 2007 a year of progress in aviation safety, and now an independent watchdog group is saying the same for the world.

The Geneva-based Aircraft Crashes Record Office told The Associated Press 2007 saw the lowest number of crashes in 44 years... but adds some countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, and Colombia, are lagging in safety improvement.

ACRO says there were 136 serious accidents in 2007, the fewest since 1963. Fatalities totalled 965, down 25 percent from 2006.

Most crashes involve small, propeller-powered planes, but larger jets accounted for more fatalities due to their passenger capacities.

The most lethal individual accident last year was the July 17 crash in Brazil of a TAM jetliner, which hit a building during a landing attempt in Sao Paulo, killing 199.

International Air Transport Association spokesman Anthony Concil told the AP some parts of the world still have a long way to go on safety, noting the loss of over 120 lives last year in two separate accidents in Indonesia, and Africa's continuing poor safety record.

"We're operating at such a high level of safety that even one or two accidents can skew the numbers tremendously," Concil said.

China, on the other hand, is preserving an enviable safety record -- despite explosive growth of the airline industry there. IATA credits strict regulation.

As for most-improved, Concil notes Russia went from the worst in the league to the best -- a change he attributes to the implementation of a series of safety measures based on IATA standards.

FMI: www.baaa-acro.com