Fatalities onboard passenger aircraft jumped to 318 this year with the two recent accidents, data compiled by Cirium shows. That’s by far the highest death toll since more than 500 people died in 2018, a year marked by the first of two Boeing Co. 737 Max crashes.
This year started and ended with tragedies in Japan and South Korea during attempted landings, among the most dangerous phases of flight. Fatal aviation accidents remain very rare, and one major incident can suddenly turn a statistically safe year into one of the worst.
“The recent spike falls into the margins of unpredictability,” said Darren Straker, a former head of air accident investigation units in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong. He suggested airline crews could be better trained to respond to so-called outlier events.
Investigators have yet to determ