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Old 2nd Jan 2018, 22:39
  #16 (permalink)  
tdracer
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Everett, WA
Age: 68
Posts: 4,426
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There was a fairly fine line between "crash" and fatalities in the Peru crash. On this occasion everybody got out, but it could have ended very differently.
That's one reason the manufactures track the 'hull loss rate' - at least for takeoff/landing accidents if it's bad enough to write-off the aircraft, the difference between fatal/non-fatal is often just luck.
Since pure cargo operators have different rules and regulations, it seems fair to segregate their statistics - even though the outcomes can be just as tragic.
All that being said, with the huge increases in air traffic, if we had the same accident rate today as we did in the early 1970s we'd average a major air disaster every week. For all the weaknesses in the current system, going an entire year without a commercial jetliner fatality is pretty darned impressive.
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