Air crash victims double to seven-year high

The number of people killed in air crashes doubled last year to a seven-year high, according to the latest figures.

The toll of fatal accidents rose by six to 34, but the number of passengers and crew who perished leapt from 466 to 1,050.

One of the main causes of deaths was "controlled flight into terrain" where an aircraft hits the ground at full power with the crew seemingly unaware of the danger.

Another major cause is where there is a loss of control of the plane for whatever reason.

Until 2004 the figure for fatal accidents had shown a consistent decline.

David Learmount, a safety specialist, points out in the latest edition of Flight magazine that many of the fatal accidents last year involved aircraft registered in states with "struggling economies" where regulatory activity was low on the list of political priorities.

He points out that for the last two decades, airlines in Africa and in parts of Latin America and Asia were responsible for a small percentage of flights, but a large proportion of serious accidents.

Mr Learmount says there was a "continuing absence" of fatal accidents involving major world airlines and up-to-date aircraft.

Nigeria had two fatal crashes last year in which a total of 225 people were killed, while Sudan saw three fatal accidents, all involving old Soviet-built aircraft.

A West Caribbean Airways' crash in Venezuela in August which claimed the lives of 152 passengers and eight crew.

While most of the fatal crashes involved older aircraft, the disaster in the hills north of Athens last August in which 115 passengers and crew died, happened to a more modern jet.

According to early reports from the investigator, the flight crew failed to set the pressurisation controls correctly during pre-flight checks.

That mistake was made worse when crew did not respond to warnings that the cabin was not pressurised as the Helios Boeing 737-300 aircraft climbed.

The chief investigator will point out that crews of other 737-700s have failed to pressurise the aircraft, although crew recognised the warnings in time, according to Flight magazine.

Two of the latest generation of aircraft operated by major carriers suffered serious runway over-runs last year because of "marginal" weather conditions and tail winds.

An Air France Airbus A340 landing at Toronto Pearson airport was destroyed by fire after overrunning the landing strip and diving into a ravine.

All passengers and crew escaped with their lives.

In a second incident, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 overshot the runway at Chicago Midway, crashed through the perimeter fence and killed a child in a passing car.

Passengers and crew were unhurt.

Safety on the world's passenger airliners reached an all-time high in the first six months of 2001, with 114 people killed in 13 fatal accidents and not a single crash involving a major airline.

Passenger confidence was severely affected by the 11 September terrorist atrocities as 265 passengers were among the thousands killed.

In 2001 a leaked report prepared for the European Commission claimed overcrowded skies were a disaster waiting to happen.

But air traffic operators and aviation authorities reassured the public that Britain had one of the best safety records.

Meanwhile, Britain is leading the way in the growth of flights to and from European countries, according to the airline information company OAG.

More than 7,300 scheduled flights are planned for January 2006 at British airports - an 8 per cent increase on the January 2005 figure, it was estimated.

The growth in Britain compares with a 7 per cent rise in Spain and Italy and 5 per cent for France and Germany.

Africa is operating 12 per cent more flights this January than the same month last year, with the Middle East is up 10 per cent and the Asia-Pacific region up 9 per cent.

There are 2 per cent more flights planned into and out of Central and South America but North American schedules are showing zero growth - partly reflecting continuing concerns in the wake of 9/11.

- INDEPENDENT