According to the latest report by Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), more aircraft disasters and fatalities occurred in Russia than in any other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) country last year.
The report, presented by the bloc’s top civil aviation authority, reveals that the safety level of aircraft transport in the Commonwealth of Independent States demonstrated “stable negative dynamics” during 2017.
The paper’s authors noted that the absolute parameter of general flight safety was higher than in 2016, but also agreed that the relative index of accidents and disasters registered in 2017 was the worst since 2013.
According to the report, the 12 countries that comprise the CIS saw 58 aircraft incidents in 2017, including 32 aircraft disasters. In 2016, there were 63 such incidents and 28 disasters within the bloc. The number of human deaths was 74 in both 2017 and 2016.
Russia had the highest number of aircraft disasters and the number of individual fatalities. In 2017, the country had 39 aircraft incidents, including 20 disasters that saw 51 people killed. Ukraine had eight aircraft incidents that killed seven people, Kazakhstan had seven incidents with 11 dead, and Belarus, Moldova, Uzbekistan and Armenia had one incident each.
According to preliminary investigation results, over 80 percent of all aircraft incidents and disasters in 2017 were caused by human error, including three incidents that happened because pilots were under the influence of alcohol.
The authors of the report paid special attention to commercial passenger flights, saying that while the practice is becoming more widespread, airline operators continue to ignore safety issues while preparing and conducting flights. Among other safety violations they mentioned were pilots who have no working certificates, or pre-flight medical examinations, the use of aircraft without valid operating certificates, and the access of workers with low qualification to repair works.