Yesterday I wrote about how 2017 was the safest year on record for aviation globally. In 2017 airlines had zero accident deaths on commercial passenger jets. This excludes props, and excludes cargo jets, so when you factor those in, there were a total of 10 fatal airliner accidents, resulting in 79 deaths.
While any tragedy is sad, that’s incredible when you consider how many hundreds of millions of people fly every year. An airplane is just about the safest place you can be. This is also an improvement over previous years, because as recently as 2005 there were 1,015 commercial passenger deaths worldwide (which is still quite good, when you consider how many people fly).
So, what made 2017 such a safe year for aviation around the world (yes, we’re talking everywhere in the world)? Per President Trump’s Tweet:
“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.”
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
For one, there weren’t zero deaths in commercial aviation. There were zero passenger jet deaths, but that’s not the entire equation.
But if we can forget that for a second, I think we should all give a big round of applause for all that President Trump has done to keep global aviation safe. I certainly felt him looking over me on my Uzbekistan Airways flight from Tashkent to Dushanbe a few months ago.
(Tip of the hat to @zuurb)
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