The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data for the 2016 safety performance of the commercial airline industry, showing mixed results.

• The all-accident rate (measured in accidents per 1 million flights) was 1.61, an improvement from 1.79 in 2015.

• The 2016 major jet accident rate (measured in hull losses per 1 million flights) was 0.39, which was the equivalent of one major accident for every 2.56 million flights. This was not as good as the rate of 0.32 achieved in 2015 and was also above the five-year rate (2011-2015) of 0.36. 

• There were 10 fatal accidents with 268 fatalities. This compares with an average of 13.4 fatal accidents and 371 fatalities per year in the previous five-year period (2011-2015). 

• The 2016 jet hull loss rate for IATA member airlines was 0.35 (one accident for every 2.86 million flights). While this outperformed the global hull loss rate, it was a step back from the 0.22 accidents per million flights achieved by IATA members in 2015.

IATA declares that 3.8 billion travelers flew safely on 40.4 million flights in 2016, and the number of total accidents, fatal accidents and fatalities all declined versus the five-year average. It acknowledges, however, that some key parameters failed to match the exceptional performance of 2015.

Jet hull loss rates by region showed mixed performance against five-year trends. Africa, Asia-Pacific, and CIS all improved on the 2011-2015 trend, while results in Europe, Latin America/Caribbean, Middle East/North Africa and North America were above the five-year average.

The world turboprop hull loss rate improved to 1.15 hull losses per million flights in 2016 compared to 1.18 in 2015 and the five-year rate (2011-2015) of 2.84. All regions except the CIS saw their turboprop safety performance improve in 2016 when compared to their respective five-year rates.