Sharp Increase In Air Crash Deaths In 2018

The Aviation Safety Network (ASN) released its 2018 accident statistics, marking a notable uptick in fatalities from 2017. ASN recorded a total of 15 fatal commercial airliner accidents (12 passenger and three cargo flights), resulting in 556 fatalities. This is in stark contrast to 2017, which was the safest year in aviation history with 10 accidents and 44 lives lost. The worst civilian accident of the year involved a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max that crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29, 2018, which caused the deaths of 189 people. Lion Air recently ended its search for the cockpit voice recorder but Indonesian officials said the search could resume next week.