In Praise of Cooperation - ICAO

There is a strong case to make that the 1944 Chicago Convention is amongst human kinds greatest achievements. The graph below is ample evidence to support that assertion.

Plane Crash Deaths

Annual deaths per 10 billion passenger miles, by commercial flights, five-year averages.

As the 24-hour newsfeed gives us constant updates on the unfolding saga of Boeing 787 Max, you’d think flying is dangerous. The opposite is true. Most of us are at more risk in our daily commute to work. That’s not to say we shouldn’t ignore the Boeing saga. Quite the opposite. Yet, it helps to step back to reflect on how far we’ve come.

In the 1930s, flying was a hazardous business. The technology was new, our understanding of flight still in its infancy, while the weather was often an unknown. Combine these factors, and you have a high-risk. 

Starting with Annex 13, the aviation world shared details of incidents. Using a standard procedure, we broke through the communication barrier.  Suddenly, a network of cooperation arrives, that has since grown as we all learn from each other. As new risks arrived, such as terrorism, collaboration through Annex 17 tackled the issue. 

The strides made to ensure aviation safety allowed us to overcome a fear of flying. That, in turn, has had immeasurable benefits for trade, business, human development plus the ability to see our world.

We know over four billion people flew in 2018. In the same year, a total of 15 airliners had accidents resulting in 556 deaths. The odds of dying in a commercial plane crash is roughly 1 in 5 million. These are pretty good odds. Meanwhile, the risk of dying in a road accident in any year in the UK is around 1 in 20,000, the lifetime risk is 1 in 240. 

As I write this article, there are an estimated 700,000 people in the air — depending on how you calculate the numbers.  I’m confident all will reach their destination safe. That’s thanks to ICAO and the cooperation it fostered.