AC

It appears 2011 may end up as the safest year on record for fliers. So far, there's been one fatality for every 7.1 million passengers traveling on a commercial or charter flight somewhere around the globe, according to an assessment by Ascend, an aviation industry consulting firm based in London. That compares with the previous record of one passenger death per 6.4 million fliers in 2004. "It's the safest ever," says Paul Hayes, Ascend's director of safety, noting that the report did not count deaths that resulted from terrorism or other acts of violence. "Fortunately, the airlines are getting safer, quicker than they're expanding." The global numbers reflect a recent safety trend by U.S. airlines, which haven't experienced a passenger death in a crash in four of the last five years. The exception was 2009, when a Colgan Air turboprop crashed near Buffalo on Feb. 12, leaving 50 dead. "Even if you took frequent flights (in the USA), as business travelers do, the chance that...