Latin America's air accident rate is twice the global average, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Tuesday, calling some regional safety regulations a "dangerous embarrassment."
There was one accident for every 600,000 flights in Latin America in 2007, compared to one for every 1.3 million flights for the global industry as a whole, IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani told an air industry conference at an airfield just outside the Chilean capital.
"This is much improved from 2005 when there was one accident for every 400,000 flights. But its still twice the global average and that is not good enough," Bisignani told the conference attended by airport and aviation industry leaders and executives.
There were 12 accidents in Latin America in 2007, three of them fatal, according to IATA. That compares to 100 accidents globally the same year, 20 of which were fatal.
Non-standard safety regulations are a major problem in Latin America, Bisignani said, citing a list of 250 deficiencies from global norms.
"This is a dangerous embarrassment for this region. Safety knows no borders and safety regulations must converge again," Bisignani said. "This is unacceptable and must be improved immediately."
Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico have already signed up to the IATA's global safety standard audit, and Brazil and Panama have pledged to do so.
"Five Latin American airlines participating ... are not enough," Bisignani said.
He accused some Latin American governments of treating air infrastructure as a "cash cow," and urged them to focus on issues like replacing antiquated radar systems, using new materials to improve runway safety and improving runway surveillance.
IATA represents some 240 airlines accounting for 94 percent of all scheduled international air traffic, and bills itself as the air industry's global trade organization.
