'2009 is second safest year on record for air travel'

Date: 19/2/2010

Last year was the second safest on record for air travel, according to a new report.

There was one accident for every 1.4 million flights made in Western-built jets, down from one in 1.2 million in 2008, figures from the industry association International Air Transport Association (IATA) show.

Last year's rate was also a 36 per cent improvement on levels seen in 2000.

Commenting on the new figures, IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani said: "We must understand the underlying safety risk trends, not just from the handful of accidents each year, but by bringing together and analysing data from millions of safe flights."

In 2009 there were 19 accidents involving Western-built jets and 90 for both eastern and western jets.

A total of 18 accidents involving all types of aircraft resulted in deaths, in comparison to 23 the previous year.

Over a quarter (26 per cent) of all accidents last year involved runway incidents.

The highest number of annual deaths over the past decade was in 2005 at 1,035, according to IATA.