There were 1,840 deaths from aircraft accidents in 1996. The previous highest figure is from 1985: 1,801 deaths. These figures exclude deaths from hijacking or other illegal interference with flight. Were these to be included, 1985 remains the worst year, because of the 329 deaths on the Air India B747 which crashed into the Atlantic off the coast of Ireland that year. In 1996, the only fatal such accident was that of the Ethiopian Airlines B767 off the Comoros Islands, which killed 128 passengers and crew. All-in total deaths are 1,967 for 1996 and 2,230 deaths for 1985.

The total number of fatal accidents, 57, was slightly larger than for 1995 (56) and was also the highest on record. 20 fatal accidents involved non-passenger airline operations (e.g., freight, aircraft repositioning). The UK CAA's Accident Analysis Group has confirmed that the accident rate for freighters is far higher that for passenger aircraft (1).

The total number of people on the ground who dies in air crashes was "by far the highest on record" at 364, with approximately the same number of serious injuries. However, most of these were caused by one event: the rejected take-off at Kinshasa by an Antonov An-32 which ran off the end of the runway and into a crowded marketplace, causing about 300 deaths and 250 serious injuries. The question of the wisdom of carrying on ground activities at the ends of runways arises continually, not only with large-aircraft operations but also, often in the United States, with light aircraft operations.

For details of all airline accidents in 1996, see (1), and for statistics 1959-1995 see (4). The following table summarises the accidents to commercial jet aircraft on passenger flights in 1996. I give the immediate `how', without specifying the cause. I use the following abbreviations:

CFIT	Controlled Flight into Terrain (includes water)
LOC	Loss of Control
HJ	Hijack
LNG	Landing
FOB	Fire on Board
TO	Takeoff
UBF	Uncontained (engine fan-)Blade Failure
MAC	Mid-air Collision

When	What	Where	Deaths (CRW/PX)	Occupants (CRW/PX)	How
6.2	Birgenair B757-200	Nr. Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic	13/176	same	Loss of Control
29.2	Faucett B737-200	Nr. Arequipa, Peru	6/117	same	CFIT on LNG
11.5	Valujet DC-9-30	Everglades, FL	5/105	same	LOC after FOB
13.6	Garuda Indonesia DC-10-30	Kyushu, Japan	-/3	15/260	Aborted TO
6.7	Dealta MD-88	Pensacola,FL	-/2	5/142	UBF
17.7	TWA B747-100	Nr. LI, NY	18/212	same	In-flight breakup
29.8	Vnukovo Airlines Tu-154	Nr. Spitzbergen, Norway	12/129	same	CFIT
5.9	Air France B747-400	Burkina Faso	-/1	18/206	Severe turbulence
2.10	AeroPeru B757	Off Lima, Peru	9/61	9/61	CFIT into ocean
31.10	TAM F100	Sao Paolo, Brazil	6/90	same	Probable LOC
7.11	ADC Boeing 727	Nr. Lagos, Nigeria	9/134	same	Unknown
12.11	Air India B747-100B	Nr. New Delhi, India	23/289	same	MAC
29.11	Ethiopian Airlines B767-200	Comoros Islands	10/117	12/163	Ditching after HJ

References

(1): David Learmount, Safety defeated (1996 Airline Safety Review), Flight International, 15-21 January 1997, pp31-38.
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(2): Anonymous, Airline Fatalities Rise Dramatically in 1996, Aviation Week and Space Technology, January 13, 1997, p383.

(3): Anonymous, US airline fatalities are the worst since 1985, Flight International, 88-14 January 1997, p12.

(4): Anonymous Statistical Summary of Commercial Jet Aircraft Accidents: Worldwide operations 1959-1995, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Seattle, WA, 1996.
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Copyright © 1999 Peter B. Ladkin, 1999-02-08
	Last modification on 1999-06-15 by Michael Blume