Often a topic that air travelers prefer not to contemplate, air accidents are the subject of rigorous research that shows a continuously improving safety record over the past eight decades. Nevertheless, data from the Flight Safety Foundation's 2021 Safety Report identifies risks that need proactive attention. “Some of the risks, such as loss of control-in-flight (LOC-I), are well understood and have been documented thoroughly over the years by the Foundation and other organizations," it said. "Other risks have been less well studied and require increased attention. In addition, operational changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic pose potential threats if not identified and mitigated.”
While about 23 percent of accidents in 2021 could not be classified into accident categories based on available data, the report identified three main risk areas: runway excursions (RE), LOC-I, and controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), all of which ranked among ICAO's five high-risk categories (HRC) of occurrence.
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