Industry-Labor Coalition Outlines Effort to Reduce Airline Accidents

WASHINGTON —  Aircraft manufacturers, airline industry representatives and labor organizations on Wednesday unveiled a strategy aimed at identifying and responding to the most significant aviation safety issues and reducing the worldwide air accident rate.

The effort’s top two priorities for this year include reducing so-called controlled-flight-into-terrain accidents, where planes hit mountains or other obstacles because of a lack of situational awareness by the crew, and reducing the incidence of crew errors that lead to fatal crashes.

Members of the group include plane makers Boeing Co. and Airbus Industrie; the Air Transport Assn. of America, which represents the major U.S. passenger and cargo carriers; engine manufacturers General Electric Co., United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce; and the Air Line Pilots Assn.

Worldwide, the rate of aircraft accidents that result in serious damage or destruction of the plane hull has decreased dramatically in the last four decades, according to ATA analysis. In 1960 there were 28 accidents for every 1 million departures, compared with 1996 when there were 1.5 accidents per million departures.

Still, according to a standard estimate, if the accident rate is not reduced, there will be a major airliner accident somewhere in the world every seven to 10 days by the year 2010.

“Air travel is a very safe mode,” said Mike Rioux, the ATA’s senior vice president for operations and safety. “We already have, on a worldwide basis, a very low accident rate. But obviously we could do better.”

There is wide variation by world region. Between 1987 and 1996 U.S. and Canadian operators averaged 0.5 hull-loss accidents for per 1 million departures. Western European operators had 0.7 hull losses per 1 million departures.

At a news conference, airline and aerospace industry representatives said they will also look at the role of design factors in accidents.