2017 was the safest year in aviation history, shows research

London [UK], Jan 2 (ANI): According to an industry research, 2017 turned out to be the safest year in history for commercial airlines.

As per the survey, there were just 10 fatal airliner accidents, resulting in 44 deaths, Aviation Safety Network data showed, reports the Independent.

In 2016, there were 16 accidents and 303 deaths.

Five accidents involved cargo flights, while five were passenger flights. Given the expected worldwide air traffic of about 36,800,000 flights, the accident rate is one fatal passenger flight accident per 7,360,000 flights.

As of December 31, 2017, there had been no recorded passenger jet accidents for 398 days since the crash that killed 71 people, including members of Brazilian football team Chapecoense Real, in November 2016.

It has been over two years since a crash killed more than 100 people, when a Russian passenger plane was brought down by a bomb in Egypt's Sinai peninsula on October 31, 2015.

One out of 10 aeroplanes involved in an accident was operated by an airline on the EU "blacklist".

Statistics are based on all worldwide fatal commercial aircraft accidents (passenger and cargo flights) involving civil aircraft of which the basic model has been certified for carrying 14 or more passengers.

The report also warned that electronic devices in checked-in bags pose a growing potential danger.

The UK has the best air-safety record of any major country. No fatal accidents involving a British airline have happened since the 1980s.

The last was on January 10, 1989; 47 people died when a British Midland Boeing 737 crashed at Kegworth in Leicestershire.

In contrast, sub-Saharan Africa has an accident rate 44 per cent worse than the global average, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). (ANI)