Despite crashes, airlines are increasingly safe

NEW YORK - After two years of a nearly flawless safety record, airlines are again under the microscope after a series of accidents that have left 59 people dead.

But airline industry experts say the recent plane crashes in New York City; Buffalo, N.Y.; London; and Amsterdam aren't related, and that they're grabbing attention now only after years of improving safety standards and falling fatalities.

"It's one of those coincidental things," said Todd Curtis, an aviation expert and founder of AirSafe.com. "Clearly, because of the world we live in, when you have events like this it gets a lot of attention and the public perception of aviation safety is heightened, but the risk continues to decrease."

The number of international accidents for this year is down sharply, with just five substantial accidents - those where the aircraft's hull has been breached - for all of January compared with 15 last year, said Martine Ohayon, a spokeswoman with the International Air Transport Association, or IATA.

For the U.S., accidents for commercial carriers are down about 33 percent from a decade ago with 55 in 2007 and 54 last year - none of which resulted in fatalities, according to data from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

"Some people say we got lucky for two years, but I don't think that's true," said George Doughty, the executive director of the Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pa., which serves close to 1 million people a year. "The trend of increasing safety over time should continue, and we should see fewer accidents."

It comes down to better training, improved aircraft design and a more proactive approach to encouraging safety, according to Bill Voss, the chief executive of the Flight Safety Foundation.

"In the '70s and '80s we waited for an aircraft to crash and then tried to find out what went wrong," Mr. Voss said. Now carriers submit information regularly for analysis so inspectors can find problems before they turn into tragedies.

Improved hull and cabin design is also important. Seats, for example, can better withstand impacts and played a major role in recent plane crashes where passengers were able to walk away with few broken bones.

And of course, crew training has improved tremendously, with more simulator training and reality-like scenarios for pilots and flight attendants to gain experience, Mr. Voss said.

"We call them miracles, but they are a result of a long progression of improvements," he said.