MONTREAL - AIRLINE passenger deaths continued to drop last year, by as much as 25 per cent year-over-year, following a downward trend started in 1990, the world's aviation watchdog said on Thursday.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) reported 439 people died in 11 airline accidents in 2008, down from 587 passenger fatalities in the same number of crashes the previous year, not including attacks.
Twenty-four acts of 'unlawful interference' with an aircraft were also recorded in 2008, it said.
Eleven peopled were killed and 31 were injured in these attacks, compared to 18 persons killed and 33 injured in 22 attacks the previous year.
From 1990-2008, there was a 'significant decline' in the accident rate, from around 19 accidents per 10 million departures in 1990 to around four in 2008, the ICAO said.
There were 29 fatal accidents in 1990 compared to 11 in 2008. -- AFP
