China maintains 8.7-M safe flight hours

For 33 months from 2004 to 2007, Chinese civil aviation maintained safe flights totaling 8.7 million hours. The total covers the period from November 22, 2004 to September 9, 2007, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Average aircraft movements reached 12,000. Under the 10th Five-Year Plan, China’s civil aviation emphasized safety management and enhanced a safe production responsibility system. The flight accident rate decreased during the Five-Year Plan to 0.29 per every million flight hours, down by 55 percent compared to the rate during the Ninth Five-Year Plan. The worldwide aviation accident rate is about 0.7. This year, the CAAC adopted a series of macro controls to enhance the safety margin. In April, the International Civil Aviation Organization held a safety audit on China. The results showed that Chinese civil aviation’s safety surveillance capability and safety level were on par with international standards.