By Air
p. 81 · Read in the full issue
It's Becoming Safer By Air
THE 1953 safety statistics just re leased by the International Air Transport Association and re lating tp a survey made by its 70 international member operators, show a continuous improvement in air safety records.
Although the actual number of accidents has increased slightly, this is more than offset by the large in crease in traffic generated by lATA members. An analysis of the figures discloses fewer major calamities but more accidents to smaller aircraft which were not completely fatal. The average number of fatalities per ac cident dropped from 18.4 in 1952 to 12.0 in 1953.
Of the 25 accidents reported in 1953, five resulted in no passenger fatalities and in only one accident were more than 40 passengers killed.
This showed an average of 7.57 pas senger fatalities per million passen gers carried, as compared with 9.04 in 1952 and 17.19 in 1949. (All of which is highly encourag ing to air-travellers, of course. But who wants to be a statistic anv how?)