Donald Trump has suggested he has improved the safety of aeroplanes, saying he has "been very strict on Commercial aviation" since becoming US President.
Dutch-based aviation consultancy To70 on Monday released its annual Civil Aviation Safety Review that reported only two fatal accidents, both involving small turbo-prop aircraft, with a total of 13 lives lost.
No jets crashed in passenger service anywhere in the world. The two crashes that occurred on New Year’s Eve – a seaplane in Sydney which killed six, and a Cessna Caravan which crashed in Costa Rica, killing all 12 on board – were not included in the tally, since both aircraft weighed under 5,700kg — the threshold for the report.
"Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news – it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!" he said in a Tuesday afternoon Twitter post.
According to Adrian Young, the safety review's lead researcher, The chances of a plane being involved in a fatal accident is now one in 16 million,
Mr Young, a senior aviation consultant for To70, on Monday described the improved safety level of civil aviation as "remarkable", but warned the historic low was unlikely to be maintained.
He said the positive figures were good fortune, cautioning: "The risks to civil aviation remain high as shown by the seriousness of some of the non-fatal accidents.”
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