Don't be freaked out by that eerie video of a Russian airliner skidding off an icy runway. Last year will go down as the safest year for airline travel since the dawn of the jet age more than 50 years ago.
According to data from the Aviation Safety Network, an independent organization based in the Netherlands, there were 23 fatal airliner accidents in 2012, well below the average in recent years.
In terms of the total number of accidents for airliners, last year was the lowest since the end of World War II. The 23 accidents include air cargo aircraft, an airplane used to transport sky divers and a demonstration airplane from Russia. There were just 11 fatal accidents involving airliners, again the lowest number since 1945. The 10-year average for total airliner crashes is 34, and for passenger carrying aircraft, the average is 16.
That continues a downward trend we've seen since 1997. Last year there was roughly one fatal airliner crash for every 2.5 million flights. And there has not been a fatal passenger airliner crash in the United States since 2009 when Colgan Airlines Flight 3407 crashed near Buffalo, New York.
Air traffic was up more than 5 percent worldwide last year, and there are many reasons for improved safety, including better training, better air traffic infrastructure, safer aircraft and changes in airline and pilot culture all aimed at safer skies.
Geography does however play a role in the statistics. Of the 23 fatal crashes last year, five were in African nations and four were in Russia. Airlines in developing nations often use older aircraft that have already served many years in North America, Europe of Russia, and the aviation infrastructure contributes to the disproportionate number of crashes.
There was only one fatal accident of a commercial aircraft listed for the United States, a small single engine turboprop flying cargo for FedEx.
