The Canadian Air Safety Report Card

According to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) the nation's number of reported air accidents climbed slightly last year, but the fatalities decreased. Reportable air incidents were virtually unchanged. 4.16 million flight hours generated a rate of 6.3 accidents per 100K hours. This maintained the 2005 rate, however it reflected an improvement in comparison with the five year rate of 7.1. In 31 fatal accidents 52 persons died in 2006, compared with 51 fatalities stemming from 34 mishaps in 2005. There was essentially little deviation from the five year average of 31 fatal accidents and 52 fatalities. Out of the thirty-one fatal accidents in 2006, 15 involved commercially licensed aircraft (6 airplanes and 9 helicopters). Overall the 2006 sum total of 825 reportable incidents was very comparable to the 822 figure of 2005. Equivalent statistics from the US report by the NTSB can be accessed at this ASW link.