2016 IATA Numbers for Airplane Fatalities Go Way Down
by Anna Gleksman /The number of airline accidents declined significantly in 2015, according to the International Air Transport Association. There were 136 fatalities in four crashes in 2015, just a quarter of the 641 deaths in 2014 and the lowest number in five years.
All of the deaths last year were a result of turboprop aircraft, not jets. The average annually over the last five years has been 17.6 fatal crashes and 504 fatalities.
However, the numbers do not include accidents that were caused deliberately, such as the Germanwings 9525 crash in the French Alps due to pilot suicide that killed 150 people or the crash of Metrojet 9268 in Egypt, caused by terrorism, that killed 250.
In all there were 68 accidents in 2015, compared to 77 in 2014.