132 killed in 5 fatal accidents in 2020: IATA Safety Report

 

The total number of aircraft accidents decreased from 52 in 2019 to 38 in 2020, and the fatal accidents declined from 8 in 2019 to 5 in 2020, revealed the 2020 Safety Report released by Montreal-based International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents over 280 commercial airlines worldwide.

 

The eight fatal accidents in 2019 had claimed 240 lives. In 2020, three accidents were reported with jet airliners and two with turboprops killing 132 people, the report said. In May 2020, Pakistan International Airlines flight PK8303 from Lahore to Karachi had crashed shortly before it could land at Karachi airport killing 97 out of the 99 people on board including 8 crew members. Only two passengers, a bank executive, and a mechanical engineer on board the Airbus A320 survived the crash. 

 

The second biggest accident was reported in India. In August 2020, an Air India Express Boeing 737 from Dubai to Kozhikode skidded off the runway after landing on the table top runway, killing 21 people including both the pilots.

“On 8 January 2020, the world experienced a shocking tragedy with the shooting down of Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752, minutes after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport. All 176 people on board perished. Similar to MH17, this is another tragic example of what can go wrong around conflict zones. The incident is considered an unlawful act and is, therefore, included in aviation security statistics and not in this report,” the executive summary of the report said.

 

The accident categories in 2020 listed in order of the number of fatalities were:

• In-flight Damage (2) with 104 fatalities

• Runway/Taxiway Excursion (2) with 24 fatalities

• Controlled Flight into Terrain (1) with 4 fatalities

 

The top five accident categories in 2020 listed by the frequency of accidents (including the ones with fatalities) were:

• Runway/Taxiway Excursion (9)

• Hard Landing (7)\

• Gear-up Landing/Gear Collapse (6)

• In-flight Damage (5)

• Ground Damage (3)

 

With COVID-19 pandemic severely impacting the normal commercial flight operations, the accident rate has shown an increase. The accident rate increased from 1.11 accidents per million flights in 2019 to 1.71 accidents per million flights in the COVID-19 pandemic year though total flight operations in 2020 reduced by 53 per cent, the report said.

 

 

 “Flying is safe, although the industry did take a step back on performance in 2020. The severe reduction in flight numbers magnified the impact of each accident when we calculate rates. But numbers don’t lie, and we will not allow this to become a trend. We will have even sharper focus on safety during this period of reduced operations and as flight schedules are rebuilt when the world reopens,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

 

For the first time in more than 15 years there were no Loss of Control Inflight (LOC-I) accidents, which have accounted for the largest share of fatalities since 2016. “The lack of any such events in 2020 was a positive development. Nevertheless, based on the initial reports from the investigation into the tragic loss of Sriwijaya Air SJ 182 early in 2021, we must continue to learn and improve,” said de Juniac.

 

 

Airlines could suffer $75-95 billion cash burn due to tardy recovery: IATA

 The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents over 290 global airlines, has revised its estimate of cash burn for airlines from $48 billion projected in November 2020 to $75 billion in 2021 and could touch $95 billion if the recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic ais slower through 2021.

In its November 2020 analysis, IATA had indicated that airlines would turn cash positive in the fourth quarter of 2021, but with several countries grappling with three Coronavirus variants found in UK, South Africa and Brazil, airlines are now not expected to be cash positive until 2022, IATA said in its new analysis presented at a media conference by IATA’s Director general and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac in Geneva.

IATA said 2021 has had a weaker recovery than anticipated after governments tightened travel restrictions in response to the COVID-19 variants, and forward bookings for summer months of July and August are presently 78 per cent lower than pre-COVID levels of February 2019.

“With governments having tightening border restrictions, 2021 is shaping up to be a much tougher year than previously expected. Our best-case scenario sees airlines burning through $75 billion in cash this year. And it could be as bad as $95 billion. More emergency relief from governments will be needed. A functioning airline industry can eventually energize the economic recovery from COVID-19. But that won’t happen if there are massive failures before the crisis ends. If governments are unable to open their borders, we will need them to open their wallets with financial relief to keep airlines viable,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

De Juniac urged the governments to work with the industry to plan the restart in an orderly and timely manner.  “The UK has set a good example. Earlier this week it laid out a structure for re-opening based on an improvement in the COVID-19 situation. This gives airlines a framework to plan the restart, even if it needs to be adjusted along the way. Other governments should take note as a best practice for working with industry,” he said.

Juniac said efficient digital management of health credentials will be vital for global recovery and the IATA Travel Pass, which airlines are increasingly adopting, could play a crucial role in securing health data of passengers and sharing it with the authorities. A growing list of airlines—including Air New Zealand, Copa Airlines, Etihad Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Malaysia Airlines, RwandAir, and Singapore Airlines—have committed to doing trials with the digital tool.

“Efficient digital management of health credentials is vital to restart. Manual processes will not be able to cope with volumes once the recovery begins. Digital solutions must be secure, work with existing systems, align with global standards and respect data privacy. In developing the IATA Travel Pass these are fully in focus. The IATA Travel App will help to set the bar very high for managing health credentials, protecting against fraud and enabling a convenient travel process,” de Juniac said adding “While there is choice in the market for solutions, there should be no compromise on the fundamentals, or we risk failing systems, disappointed governments and travelers, and a delayed restart,”

He urged the governments to adapt global digital standards in recording tests and vaccinations data. “Speed is critical. Fraudulent COVID-19 test results are already proving to be an issue. And as vaccine programs ramp up governments are using paper processes and differing digital standards to record who has been vaccinated. These are not the conditions needed to support a successful restart at scale when governments open borders,” he said.

Photo credits: www.IATA.org