GA Accident Rate Up Slightly In 2005

Aviation fatalities from all sectors dropped a bit last year, according to preliminary figures released this week by the NTSB, while GA deaths were up slightly, to 562 from 558 the year before. The number of people killed in all aviation accidents in 2005 dropped to 616, from 652 in 2004. Airline fatalities increased from 14 to 22, while air-taxi deaths dropped sharply from 64 in 2004 to 18 last year. General aviation fatal accidents amounted to 1.3 for every 100,000 hours of flying, according to the NTSB’s estimate. “It is very disturbing to see transportation fatalities rising,” said NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker. “We need a concerted effort by government, industry and the traveling public to establish a strong downward trend in the number of fatal accidents.” The full aviation accident statistics are available online.