The tragic accident that saw a Germanwings Airbus A320 crash near the French Alps on March 24, was the second major incident involving a commercial airliner in 2015. 144 passengers and 6 crew members were believed to be on board, when the aircraft travelling from Barcelona to Düsseldorf crashed in the Alpes-de-Hautes-Provence department in Southern France. The number of casualties has yet to be confirmed, but according to news reports there have likely been no survivors.
Despite a spike in aviation accidents in 2014, the number of fatalities in airliner accidents has been trending downwards thanks to significant improvements in flight safety. According to data compiled by the , 1972 was the worst year on record for the aviation industry, when 2,373 people lost their lives in 72 hull-loss accidents.
People killed in commercial plane crashes since 1942
Description
This chart shows the number of people that have been killed in commercial plane crashes since 1942.
