2019 Plane Crash Fatalities Down 50% Compared With Previous Year

The number of people killed in airplane crashes decreased by more than 50% in 2019. 

The aviation consulting firm To70 said 257 people died in large commercial plane crashes in 2019, compared to 534 the previous year. 

Some might have expected 2019's total to be higher, especially in light of the high-profile Ethiopian Airlines crash back in March that led to aviation authorities grounding Boeing 737 Max jets across the globe. 

But To70 pointed out that of the 86 airplane accidents in 2019, only eight were fatal. That breaks down to just one fatal accident for every 5.58 million flights.

The safest year to date for commercial air travel was back in 2017. That year, three fatal accidents left 14 people dead.