Estimated reading time 1 minute, 29 seconds.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has released its preliminary transportation occurrence statistics for 2017.
The TSB, Transport Canada, the transportation industry, as well as many other organizations and researchers, use these statistics on reportable occurrences in the air, marine, railway and pipeline modes of transportation for the identification and analysis of trends.
An initial review of the preliminary occurrence information highlights some noteworthy observations. In early spring, the TSB will release its complete and final statistical reports for 2017, including accident rates and a more thorough analysis of the data.
Air transportation
In 2017, 239 aviation accidents were reported to the TSB, which is slightly lower than the five year average of 259.
After a five-year decline, the number of accidents among commercial operators increased in 2017.
This increase is partly due to a higher number of flight training accidents.
The December 2017 accident in Fond-du-Lac, Saskatchewan, was the first fatal accident in Canada involving a Canadian airliner since the accident in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, in 2011.
There were 921 aviation incidents reported to the TSB in 2017, which represents a significant increase compared to the previous year (833) and the five-year average (737).
This trend is partly due to an increase in the risk of collision and loss of separation incidents.
The first known collision between a commercial aircraft and an unmanned aerial vehicle (drone), in Canada, also occurred in 2017.
