The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has described the results of its 2013 annual safety report as “very positive for global aviation safety outcomes.” The report, released on April 10, showed the 2013 global accident rate to have declined to 2.8 per million departures last year versus 3.2 per million in 2012. The number of fatal accidents among scheduled air carriers, however, remained steady at nine last year. Fatalities plummeted 55 percent from 2012, to 173 from 388. Compared with a 2010 baseline, fatalities are down 74 percent.

“ICAO has also been encouraged by the safety results out of Africa for 2013, supporting our long-standing work to promote greater regional collaboration on the continent,” said ICAO Council president Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu.

ICAO’s Regional Aviation Safety Group for Africa registered just one fatal accident last year, and associated fatalities for the region were reduced by a factor of five compared with 2012.