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Travel Security Update National and international travel security, safety and health news update.
Features & Reviews
Avoiding Serious Consequences from Air Rage
U.S. Department of State Travel Warnings
Air Safety & Security
Aircraft Safety & Security
Airline Safety & Security
Airport Safety & Security
Fatal Events in 2005
Significant 2005 Events
AIR SAFETY & SECURITY World Review
What This Review Covers
The events in this year's Air Safety and Security World Review include selected fatal events* involving passengers, as well as other events that have a significant impact on the public's awareness of airline and aviation safety. Fatal events include any circumstance where one or more passengers on an aircraft flight die from causes that are directly related to the operation of that aircraft. The fatal event may be due to an accident or due to a deliberate act by another passenger, a crew member, or by one or more persons not on the aircraft. These events include sabotage, hijacking, or military action and exclude cases where the only passenger deaths were to hijackers, saboteurs, or stowaways.
This review focuses on fatal events involving passengers for two reasons. First, events affecting passenger safety are the kind of events that are most likely to lead to significant changes in the ways that aircraft are designed, built, and operated. A second and closely related reason is that threats to passenger safety are a very high interest item for both the traveling public and for the world's media. This review also limits its scope to the types of aircraft that are commonly used in regular airline service in North American, and western Europe. This excludes aircraft designed within the former Soviet Union, and smaller propeller driven aircraft that are typically configured to carry less than ten passengers. Another class of flights that are excluded are those where the general public does not have an opportunity to fly as a passenger. This would include situations such as flights on corporate aircraft, military aircraft, or private charters.Summary of Significant 2005 Events
In 2005, there were a total of 17 occurrences that were considered to be significant safety events by AirSafe.com and AirGuideOnline.com. Some of the noteworthy facts about these events include the following:
- Twelve of the 17 occurrences were considered to be fatal events as defined by AirSafe.com.
- Fifteen of the 17 occurrences, including three events not considered to be fatal event as defined by AirSafe.com, involved the death of at least one person.
- While five events did not constitute a fatal event as defined by AirSafe.com, three of these events were associated with a single death. In one case, a passenger who acted in a threatening manner and was killed by air marshals, a second case also involved a passenger who died in part do to the passenger behavior that was considered threatening by passengers and crew, and in a third case involved the death of someone outside of the aircraft. In the other nonfatal noteworthy events, one aircraft was slightly damaged and the other was completely destroyed.
- Of the 12 occurrences considered to be fatal events as defined by AirSafe.com, nine involved large jet transports, and three involved propeller driven aircraft.
- In six of 12 fatal events, all passengers and crew were killed.
- There were a total of 748 passengers and 50 crew members killed in these 12 fatal events, with 38 crew members and 680 passengers among the survivors. An additional three deaths were associated with occurrences not considered to be fatal events as defined by AirSafe.com.
- Of the six fatal events with survivors, two events involved the death of all crew members and over 80 percent of the passengers, while the other four fatal events resulted in the deaths of between 60 and 99 percent of the passengers.
- Two of the 17 significant events also resulted in the deaths of people outside of the aircraft. In one case 47 were killed and in the other one person was killed.
- Two of these 17 significant events were related to the threatening actions of a passenger, but none involved hijacking, sabotage, or other deliberate actions by individuals or groups.
Noteworthy Trends
There are two noteworthy trends that are evident in the 2005 experience. As has been the case over the past several years, the majority of the fatal events occurred outside of the major industrialized countries of the world. Two of these events were in western Europe and one in Australia, and the other eight were distributed in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. While the historical trend of the developing world accounting for most fatal events held true in 2005, a different kind of trend continued in 2005. The U.S. and Canada, two countries that consistently account for over half of the world's jet airline travel, has not experienced a fatal event involving large jet transports since November 2001. Prior to this gap in fatal events, there had never been a four year period in U.S. and Canadian airline activity where there were no events fatal to passengers flying either on U.S. or Canadian jet airliners, or jet airliners from other countries flying in U.S. or Canadian airspace.
The second noteworthy trend is that among the 17 most significant aviation safety related events of 2005, the ones that will probably had the have the greatest impact on the public's perception of safety were three situations that are not considered fatal events by AirSafe.com. It is no coincidence that these events took place in North America and also had substantial coverage by the major media organizations of the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere. Events in North America have a disproportionate affect on airline safety in part because of the central role that the U.S. aviation industry and the U.S. government has in setting design, operational, and safety standards that are followed by the rest of the world. Also, over half of the worlds jet airliner flights take involve U.S. and Canadian carriers.Key 2005 Events
Perhaps the most well know of the three was the latest event, the 10 December 2005 runway overrun accident involving a Southwest Airlines 737 at Chicago's Midway airport. The aircraft went beyond the boundary of the airport, striking two cars on a nearby intersection. While no passengers or crew were injured, one of the passengers, a six-year old boy, was killed. It was clear from the media coverage and from the response of Southwest Airlines leadership that the death of a child turned this otherwise minor airliner accident into an event that was taken very seriously by the NTSB, and particularly by Southwest Airlines.
While the airline has had accidents in the past, including a 2000 runway overrun incident where the aircraft ended up in a street just outside the airport in Burbank, California, this was the first event in the airline's history involving a fatality. The fact that it involved the death of a small boy intensified the media's and the public's interest. It is still early in the investigation, and it is too early to tell if this tragic occurrence will also affect industry wide regulations or operational procedures.
The most spectacular event of 2005 was undoubtedly the 2 August 2005 crash of an Air France A340 in Toronto, Canada. In spite of the fact that the aircraft was severely damaged and caught fire, all the passengers and crew were able to successfully escape from the burning aircraft using even though several exits were not usable. What made this a spectacular crash is that it took place in one of the largest media markets in North America, and more importantly live pictures of the burning aircraft were broadcast around the world, with many networks interrupting their regular coverage. Because it took place in the afternoon, it became the lead story in major newspapers and other media outlets around the globe. As is the case with the Southwest accident, the investigation is ongoing and it may be months before suspected causes may be identified by the investigating authorities.
The other key event was actually a minor event that would not even be classified as an accident by the FAA. The emergency landing of a JetBlue A320 in Los Angeles on 21 September 2005 was in many ways unremarkable. Due to a mechanical malfunction, the nose wheels were turned almost sideways, making a normal landing impossible. While the landing was not normal, the flight crew and emergency crew implemented their respective emergency procedures and landed the plane without injury or serious aircraft damage. The local media, which even before the famous police chase of accused murderer O. J. Simpson had become world leaders in the field of covering breaking news events from the air, had ample time to position news helicopters to cover both the emergency preparations and the landing itself, and as a result there was substantial live coverage of the event, including the aircraft landing safely amid a spectacular shower of sparks.
One factor made this event unique in the annals of aviation history. The JetBlue provides live satellite television to all of the passengers in its aircraft, including live feeds from news networks such as CNN. Until the final stages of the flight, passengers were able to follow coverage if their own emergency. For obvious reasons, this caused more than a small amount of stress for some passengers. This JetBlue event has led some in the airline industry to rethink their passenger entertainment policy, with some even considering turning off the service during in-flight emergencies. This may seem to be a prudent reaction in the wake of JetBlue's experience, but it is a reaction that misses some key points about the JetBlue event. This was a rare situation where major television news organizations were willing to offer continuous live coverage of an ongoing event, where the emergency itself occurred over a relatively long period of time, and where the aircraft's passenger entertainment system remained fully operational. This is in sharp contrast to most aircraft emergencies where the situation is resolved one way or another before news organizations have a chance break into their programming.
For an updated summary of significant events for 2005, please visit:
Fatal Events in 2005
http://www.airsafe.com/events/fatal05.htm
Significant 2005 Events
For ordering the publication:
AIR SAFETY & SECURITY World Review
*Fatal Event: Any circumstance where one or more passengers die during the flight from causes that are directly related to a civilian airline flight. The fatal event may be due to an accident or due to a deliberate act by another passenger, a crew member, or by one or more persons not on the aircraft. These events include sabotage, hijacking, or military action and exclude cases where the only passenger deaths were to hijackers, saboteurs, or stowaways. Also excluded are situations where the only deaths are to crew members or to people outside of the aircraft.
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