Commercial Aviation Deaths Since 1942

An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 passengers and crew vanished over the eastern Mediterranean early this morning. The Airbus A320 disappeared from radar screens at around 02:30am (Egypt local time) with unconfirmed reports suggesting it crashed 130 miles off the Greek island of Karpathos.

The number of fatalities in aviation accidents has been trending downwards in recent years thanks to significant safety improvements. If the EgyptAir crash is confirmed, it will be the second major disaster in 2016 after Flydubai Flight 981 crashed in Rostov-onDon, Russia, on March 19, killing all 62 people onboard. According to data compiled by the Aviation Safety Network, 1972 was the worst year on record for the aviation industy with 2,373 people losing their lives in accidents.