IATA Annual Safety Report Executive Summary

Commercial aviation in 2023 marked a historic milestone, by achieving its safest year to date by several parameters. The year set a record for the lowest number of fatal accidents, with no scheduled passenger jets involved in hull loss or fatal accidents. This achievement is especially noteworthy given the 17% increase in aircraft movements - from just over 32 million sectors in 2022 to more than 37 million in 2023.

Adding to this achievement is the fact that IATA's long-established criteria for classifying an aircraft incident as an accident have remained constant since 2005. These criteria require that the incident must involve damage exceeding $1 million USD or 10% of the aircraft's hull reserve value, whichever is lower, or result in the aircraft being considered a total loss. Given the current high inflation rates and the rising cost of aircraft repairs due to the use of more expensive modern composite materials, one might anticipate more events previously seen as minor damage now being classified as accidents. However, despite these concerns, the data presents a contrasting narrative.

The accident rate decreased from 1.30 accidents per million sectors in 2022 to 0.80 in 2023, the lowest rate recorded in our database. This rate also outperformed the five-year (2019-2023) rolling average of 1.19. In total, there were 30 accidents from commercial operations worldwide in 2023 versus 42 accidents in 2022. This was   ahead of the five-year average of 38. One fatal accident occurred in 2023 that resulted in 72 fatalities, this was down from five in 2022 which caused 158 deaths.

By upholding the $1 million USD damage threshold since 2005, IATA and the aviation industry have effectively raised the standard for what constitutes an accident. Despite the industry's growth and the potential for more accidents to meet these criteria, this stringent approach, has still resulted in a notable decrease in aircraft damage, both on the ground and in flight.

Despite this positive trend, it's crucial to emphasize that the aviation industry must remain vigilant. Any accident, regardless of its severity or frequency, highlights the critical importance of maintaining a proactive approach to safety, identifying and addressing potential safety issues and emerging trends, as well as implementing safety measures to reduce the likelihood of an accident.

The effectiveness of an organization’s safety management systems in preventing a future accident depends to a large degree on its ability to learn from past accidents. That in turn is subject to the timely availability of comprehensive, widely disseminated accident investigation reports. Such reports are essential to the overall risk management process in aviation. We continue to urge states to do their part by following the guidance in ICAO Annex 13 for the issuance of timely and complete accident reports.

Data serves as a fundamental driver of evidence-based decision-making within the aviation industry. The utilization of data through the IATA Annual Safety Report enables the aviation industry to proactively address safety challenges, implement effective measures, and continuously enhance safety. IATA is committed and will continue to collaborate with safety stakeholders to develop preventive measures aimed at reducing the likelihood of accidents and enhancing overall safety levels.

Looking at the fatal accidents in 2023:

• Loss of Control Inflight (1) with 72 fatalities, owing to a turboprop aircraft

Looking at the non-fatal accidents:

• Landing Gear (9), Ground Damage (5), Tail Strike (5), Hard Landing (4), Runway Excursion (2), Off Airport Landing / Ditching (2), In-flight Damage (1), and Other End State (1)

Looking at the regional overview:

• The 2023 accident rate for all regions has improved compared to that of 2022, except for two regions:
  • The North America (NAM) accident rate rose from 0.53 in 2022, to 1.14 per million sectors in 2023.
  • The Asia Pacific (ASPAC) accident rate rose from 0.56 in 2022 to 0.78 per million sectors in 2023. The fatality risk rate per million sectors also rose from 0.00 reported in 2022 to 0.16, owing to the accident that happened in Nepal in January 2023.
• Africa (AFI) had the highest accident rate with 6.38 accidents per million sectors in 2023, this was an improvement from last year.
• The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region had the second highest accident rate with 1.16 accidents per million sectors, this was an improvement from last year.
• The accident rate for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region saw an improvement for the last four years, going from 4.86 per million sectors in 2020 to 1.09 accidents per million sectors in 2023. CIS may undergo more revisions than usual upon the availability of actual flown sectors.
• The North Asia (NASIA), Europe (EUR), and Latin America and Caribbean (LATAM/CAR) regions saw an improvement in both the accident rate and fatality risk.

Looking at the common Threat and Errors Management.

• The common factors including operating in adverse weather conditions, aircraft malfunction, non-compliance to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), manual handling, and flight control errors, which include hand flying vertical, lateral, or speed deviations, and/or approach deviation, and situation awareness and management of information.

Safety can be achieved if we all work together. I would like to thank the Accident Classification Task Force (ACTF), the Operations Advisory Council (OAC), the Safety Group (SG), the Cabin Operations Safety Task Force (COSTF), and all IATA staff involved for their cooperation and expertise, essential for the creation of this report.

Safety within the aviation industry is not just a regulatory requirement; it is a shared responsibility that demands continuous vigilance, improvement, and cooperation amongst all stakeholders. Recognizing the critical importance of safety, the industry consistently seeks to enhance its protocols, standards, and practices. This commitment to safety is a cornerstone for ensuring the protection of all involved in aviation. 

The IATA Annual Safety Report (ASR) not only benchmarks progress in global safety performance; it helps identify and inform safety priorities through an extensive dataset that serves as a compass to direct industry focus and actions.

Safety as a shared responsibility

A strong safety culture within the aviation industry is essential for continuous improvement in all aspects of operations. Creating an environment that encourages the transparent and timely reporting of incidents and accidents is essential to be able to identify systemic issues and prevent future occurrences. IATA is actively working on two fronts to bolster this effort:

• Enhancing Airline Safety Culture: In 2023, IATA launched the IATA Safety Leadership Charter, designed to reinforce organizational safety culture through airline executives committing to eight key safety leadership principles. To date, 45 airlines have signed the charter.
• Encouraging States to Provide Timely, Comprehensive and Public Accident Reports: An analysis of accident investigations from 2018 to 2022 showed that only 54% are investigated and published as prescribed by the Chicago Convention. The current shortfall in compliance prevents aviation stakeholders from accessing vital information that could significantly improve flight safety.

Addressing Systematic Safety Risks

Supporting industry mitigate operational and systematic safety risks, through a comprehensive and collaborative approach, is a core priority of IATA.

Key areas of current activity, as captured within the IATA Safety Issue Hub, include:

• Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Interference
  Airlines are seeing a significant rise in locations where GNSS interference, including jamming and spoofing, are experienced. Together with our industry partners, IATA is coordinating the collection of events relating to GNSS interference to understand the extent of the issues and root causes; the industry-wide development of recommended best practices for risk mitigation; and ensuring that conventional ground-based navigational aids are maintained as a backup.
• Runway Safety 
  In response to mitigating runway safety events, IATA is poised to implement a series of focused actions from recently published documents including the IATA Tail Strike Safety Risk Assessment; IATA Runway Excursion Detailed Implementation Plan; Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Excursions (GAPPRE), and the Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Incursions (GAPPRI). Furthermore, ongoing endeavours will be directed towards the identification and categorization of high-risk Unstable Approaches.
• Traffic Collision Avoidance System Resolution Advisory Measurement Enhancement (TCAS RA) 
  A focused initiative will identify areas with high TCAS RA occurrences using the IATA Flight Data eXchange (FDX) platform to deliver region-specific action plans. In addition, new metrics for evaluating pilot responses to TCAS Resolution Advisories will be developed with the aim of establishing safety measures to reduce mid-air collision risks and elevate global safety standards.
• Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT)
  In 2024, IATA will continue to engage in numerous activities to increase awareness of risks associated with CFIT.  This includes a campaign to promote the publication to Enhance Access to EGPWS/TAWS Database Information guide, produced in collaboration with EGPWS manufacturers and avionics suppliers, to provide information on how to access the latest software releases and terrain databases.

Conclusion

Safety is a shared responsibility, and the efforts undertaken by IATA and its partners highlight the unwavering commitment to enhancing safety performance by the aviation industry. Through initiatives like the Safety Leadership Charter, collaborative efforts to improve accident investigation capabilities, and focused actions on systemic safety risks, the industry is taking significant strides towards minimizing risks and safeguarding the lives of millions who rely on air travel. A continued emphasis on transparency and collaboration will be key to enhancing and implementing safety measures ensuring that aviation remains the safest modes of transport in the world.

It is the nature of our work within the IATA Accident Classification Task Force (ACTF) to take a close look at the accidents that occur in our industry. Having a valid official final investigation report, that’s available in English according to ICAO Annex 13 provisions, is a fundamental requisite for our work, which is to classify the accidents according to IATA taxonomy.

Our goal is to provide you with a high-level overview of what has happened during the past calendar year, the accidents and their causal factors, and where to focus attention now and in the future. It is no secret to many of you that, for various reasons and notwithstanding the Annex 13 provisions, not for every accident we see in our industry possesses a valid official final investigation report. Not only does this make our work harder, but it also slows down our industry’s learning curve and continuous improvement process. The reason for this shortcoming is not so much a failure of the accident investigation authorities, but rather a failure of the States to provide proper resources to their authorities.

In addition, the retrospective work involved in the investigation of any incident or accident is not, in and of itself, enough. It all finally comes to make sense when we project the conclusions arising from our work into the future, through the formulation of safety recommendations. And this is what we strive to provide, with the data we extract and process for you, in this report: we issue safety recommendations to the industry.

We also invite you to evaluate and discuss them and to draw your own conclusions. Try to extract what these recommendations mean for your region, for your type of operation and, first and foremost, for your organization. We do not necessarily have to wait for an accident to happen in order to learn something. A fully implemented Safety Management System, with a sound change management toolkit, puts every manager and operational employee in the position to constantly enhance aviation safety.  It is our privilege to be part of this industry, which is way ahead of other transportation industries in this respect.

Looking back twenty years, the 2003 IATA Safety Report registered a total of 92 accidents, of which 21 accidents caused 663 fatalities. Now, in 2023, we are more content to report that we ‘only’ have to report a total of 30 Accidents, of which 1 accident caused 72 fatalities. While it is safe to say that the industry has made great progress over the past few decades, it is no time to be complacent and rest on our laurels. The strive for continuous improvement is what has driven mankind to create the world we live in and has enabled the commercial aviation industry to become one of the safest modes of travel. The pursuit of continuous improvement today will facilitate the existence of your organization tomorrow. From your airline’s discretionary fuel policy and risk evaluation for overflight of conflict zones to risk management for sustainability or even emerging, larger view topics such as sharing airspace with autonomous air taxis and reduced cockpit crew operations, there are plenty of topics to tackle.  

Or, to put it in simpler words: what must we do today, individually and collectively, to prevent accidents in the future?