WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- The Sept. 11 terrorist hijackings marked 2001 as the year with the largest number of aviation-related fatalities ever recorded. But without the fatalities of that single day, the year showed fewer accidents and aircraft losses than in previous years.
As of early December, there had been 63 losses of civil aircraft, and 32 fatal aircraft accidents, less than in each of the last three years, according to data compiled by the Aviation Safety Network. The combined 1,118 fatalities during 2001 made the year the seventh safest on record, the organization said.
There were only five recorded U.S. commercial airline crashes during the year thus far, with four of those being the hijacked Sept. 11 planes. The vast majority of losses of life occurred in general aviation incidents.
But 2001 will forever be remembered for the four commercial airline crashes on Sept. 11 that claimed more than 3,000 lives, including deaths on the ground. Two aircraft struck the World Trade Center towers in New York City; a third hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., and a fourth crashed near Pittsburgh. Of the four crashes, American Airlines Flight 11 lost 11 crew, 76 passengers and five hijackers; United Airlines Flight 175 lost nine crew, 51 passengers and five hijackers; American Airlines Flight 77 lost six crew, 53 passengers and five hijackers; and United Airlines Flight 93 lost seven crew, 34 passengers and four hijackers. The toll of about 3,000 civilians killed on the ground in these accidents was the largest number of deaths associated with aviation crashes. The only other U.S. scheduled commercial airline crash in 2001 was of American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed near Queens, N.Y., on Nov. 12.
As a result of the terrorist attacks, commercial air traffic experienced a steep decline. According to the Air Transport Association, passenger traffic on scheduled commercial airlines fell a total of 19.8 percent in November -- 19.5 percent on domestic flights and 23.4 percent on international flights. While the November figures were down compared with the same period in 2000, they did mark a slow rebound from the passenger numbers right after Sept. 11 and into October.
If the combined overall traffic in passengers and cargo continue along current trends, the International Air Transport Association predicts that overall commercial aviation traffic will end the year with a 5 percent decline worldwide, compared with 2000.
The commercial aviation industry itself contracted in 2001 following the Sept. 11 attacks. More than 160,000 jobs were lost from the period Sept. 11 through mid-November, with more job losses expected in 2002. But according to the Aerospace Industries Association, some $35 billion worth of U.S. commercial jetliners were delivered to airlines worldwide in 2001, their value up 16 percent over 2000. The AIA said the number of commercial airliners produced -- before Sept. 11 -- increased by 37 planes to 522, over 2000's 485 airliners delivered.
The commercial airliner order book stood at 1,409 commercial transport planes remaining on order as of Sept. 30, with foreign airlines holding 30.5 percent of the total. The value of the planes on order was $83 billion, according to AIA data.
The AIA also predicted that 2002 would show declines in commercial aviation sales, with 375 airliners to be shipped to customers during the year. The organization predicted that overall U.S. aerospace industry sales would drop next year by $6.6 billion to an industry total of $144 billion. This figure included sales of helicopters, missiles, and space vehicles as well as civil and commercial planes.
