Despite high-profile disasters, air safety steadily improves

Since the start of 2014, more than 1,600 people have died in commercial aviation disasters. That rate is up from the preceding 3 years and results in part from some shocking incidents. Yet a strong case can be made that airline safety — at least in terms of mechanical failures and human error — is better than ever, even as investigators try to learn why an EgyptAir jetliner crashed into the Mediterranean Sea Thursday with 66 people aboard. IATA says there was only one serious jet accident per every 3.1m flights in 2015. "Aviation is the safest form of long distance transportation ever invented. And it is getting safer," an IATA spokesman said. "All the data point in that direction." The flying public appears to accept those assurances, as air traffic records are being broken in virtually every region of the world. <br/>