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Flying is becoming safer, with the risk of dying having halved every decade since the late 1960s, according to a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published Thursday and which establishes a ranking by country.
Between 2018 and 2022, the average was one death for every 13.7 million passengers worldwide, compared to one for every 7.9 million passengers between 2008 and 2017 and one for every 350,000 passengers between 1968 and 1977.
“Aviation safety continues to improve” writes Arnold Barnett, professor at MIT and co-author of the study published in the specialist journal “Journal of Air Transport Management“.
Between 1978 and 1987, the average was one death for every 750,000 passengers, between 1988 and 1997 one death for every 1.3 million, then one death for every 2.7 million between 1998 and 2007.
Progress is not assured, however, according to Arnold Barnett. The last major accident on American soil dates back to 2009, for example, when a Colgan Air Bombardier flying from New York to Buffalo crashed, killing all 49 passengers on board.
But recent incidents, sometimes with near-misses on American runways, have made headlines, while the manufacturer Boeing found itself, once again, in turmoil after the detachment of a door stopper from an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in mid-flight.
Disparities are also observed between countries, the researchers point out in their study.
The safest list includes the United States, members of the European Union, Montenegro, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, Israel, Japan and New Zealand.
Category two includes Bahrain, Bosnia, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, Hong Kong, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Although aviation risks are higher in the remaining countries, which form category three, they have also halved over the period 2018-2022.