US Air Carriers Post Record Second Consecutive Year Without Fatalities

For the first time in 50 years, US airlines have flown for two years in a row -- 2007 and 2008 -- without any passenger deaths. Single years without fatalities have been rare, with only four occurring since 1958... making the two-year stretch even more impressive.

During the last two years, 1.5 billion passengers have taken to the skies in airliners. There was only one major accident within that period --  the crash of Continental Flight 1404, that ran off a Denver International Airport runway last month.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and risk statistician Arnold Barnett said, "It's a new record. While it doesn't mean risk is now non-existent, it certainly means they have done a fantastic job at keeping all these threats at bay."

Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation, said, "It's just more evidence of what has been the improving safety record that we've seen over the past several years."

Voss said the crash of Flight 1404 helps illustrate why death rates have fallen, as increased government safety requirements during recent years have rendered airliners more likely to withstand violent impacts and fires, reducing the probability of passenger deaths, USA Today reported.

Voss added that improved technology, increased aircraft reliability and better pilot training have also contributed significantly to a reduction in airline accidents.

FMI: www.flightsafety.org, www.ntsb.gov