Airline accident rate drops to new low in 2011

If you are deathly afraid of flying, here’s something that might calm your nerves: The number of airline accidents worldwide dropped in 2011, reaching record low numbers for Western-built planes.

Among all aircraft types, the total number of accidents in which a passenger plane was destroyed or substantially damaged dropped from 94 accidents in 2010 to 92 last year, according to a study released Tuesday by the International Air Transport Assn., a trade group for the world’s biggest airlines.

Among Western-built aircraft, the number of accidents dropped from 17 in 2010 to 11 last year, according to the report. That means the rate of accidents among Western-built planes was about one crash for every 2.7 million flights, the lowest in aviation history, the trade group said.

The number of airline fatalities dropped from 786 in 2010 to 486 in 2011, according to the report.

The most significant drop in accidents took place in Africa, which had only eight airline accidents in 2011, compared with 18 in 2010, the report said.

The number of airline accidents in North America dropped from 18 in 2010 to 17 last year.

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