Most U.S. Carriers Pass Safety Survey With Flying Colors

U.S. passenger carriers fared well in a new airline safety ranking, though one airline--ValuJet Inc.--earned a failing grade in the first safety report card issued Tuesday by the Air Travelers Assn.

The survey ranked 260 passenger airlines, including 29 from the U.S.

Of the U.S. carriers evaluated, 28 received numerical scores of 90 or higher, earning an A grade. Worldwide, 218 of the 260 carriers received the highest mark. However, 29 airlines in 22 countries received a failing grade.

The grades are based on the number of fatal accidents per 1,000 flights for the 10-year period ending Dec. 31, 1996. In that period, 207 of the airlines evaluated did not have a single fatal accident.

“Although past performance is not a predictor of future performance, it is a good bet that airlines that have done well over the last 10 years will continue to do so,” said David Stempler, president of the recently formed Washington-based Air Travelers Assn.

Even some airlines with several fatal accidents for the period covered in the report managed to pull off high scores, based in part on the large number of flights flown.

For example, US Airways, which had six fatal accidents in almost 9.49 million flights, earned a grade of 93.7. And UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, which had three fatal accidents for 7.02 million takeoffs, scored 95.7.

ValuJet, by contrast, which had one fatal accident in about 151,000 flights, scored 33.6. The airline had been operating for less than three years when Flight 592, an Atlanta-bound DC-9, crashed in the Florida Everglades on May 11, 1996, killing all 110 on board.

ValuJet spokeswoman Marcia Scott called the study “very misleading.”

“Basically, it is quite clear this organization did not take into consideration any of the outstanding measures we have taken above and beyond all regulations,” Scott said.

Further, she said, the study’s methodology puts smaller carriers and airlines with a smaller number of takeoffs at a disadvantage.

Two regions of the world had high numbers of carriers with low scores. Eight of the 32 South American airlines and six of the 31 African carriers included in the study received failing marks.