The Air Algerie crash Thursday killing all 116 aboard enroute from Burkino Faso to Algiers has forced the world to take note of the spate in aviation disasters. Data by Geneva-based Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A) reveals that the casualties in this year's three crashes of Malaysia Airlines, TransAsia Airways and Al Algerie till date are almost the same as the fatalities that occurred in 2013 plane disasters.
The U.N. civil aviation agency has decided to conduct a broad international meeting to discuss airline safety. The meeting, to be held in Montréal next week, comes after the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines plane last week in eastern Ukraine. The ICAO, IATA, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization and Airports Council International will talk about their roles in airspace over conflict zones, according to Reuters
The B3A data reveals that so far this year 991 fatalities have been reported. Last Thursday Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people onboard. This week TransAsia Airways Flight GE222 crashed during landing at Magong Airport in Taiwan during a storm. At least 48 onboard members died and 10 were injured.
Thursday came the news of Air Algerie plane going off radar and crashing over northern Mali. Officials say they found the wreckage of the passenger plane in Mali.
According to the aviation experts, weather was culprit in the crashes of TransAsia and Air Algerie. "These are typical conditions for this time of the year, and there should have been no trouble flying around any thunderstorms that were around the area," AccuWeather meteorologist Anthony Sagliani told Business Insider. "Though I certainly don't know for sure, it seems unlikely weather had a hand in the disappearance of this plane."
Ronan Hubert, B3A founder and aircraft accident historian says that despite the crashes it is safe to fly. "There's a very high level of aviation safety today," Hubert told CTVNews.ca.
"With all the passengers and aircrafts and flights we have taking off every day, the risk is near-zero," he added.
In 2013, more than 3 billion people air traveled safely on 36.4 million flights. The year also reported 81 aviation accidents, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The figures were below the five-year average of 86 accidents per year, and similar to one accident per 2.4 million flights, states IATA.
