The Accident Rate For Most Airplanes Hits A Record Low

Air travel has long been remarkably safe, and the statistics got even better in 2012, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), an airline industry trade group.

That's especially true for what the organization defines as "Western-built" aircraft, a peculiar term that covers commercial jets designed in Western Europe, the Americas, or Indonesia, if they have a certified take-off mass of more than 15,000 kg (33,000 lb).

"Eastern-built" jets are those designed in the Commonwealth of Independent States (the former Soviet Republics) or China.

Since Airbus, Boeing, and Embraer — based in Europe, the US, and Brazil, respectively — dominate the aviation market, the vast majority of commercial flights are on Western-built planes.

Globally, those planes boasted an extremely low accident rate last year: Only one hull loss — when a plane is totaled — every 5 million flights.

The numbers were not as impressive for flights by African carriers, even using Western-built planes. The region registered a higher hull loss rate in 2012 (3.71 per million flights) than in 2011 (3.27 per million flights).

In the IATA press release, CEO Tony Tyler said "the continent’s overall performance is far from satisfactory."

The news is all good for air travelers in North America, North Asia and North Africa, which all recorded zero hull losses in 2012. Europe's hull loss rate was .15 per million flights.