2007: One of the safest years in aviation

2007 was one of the safest years in aviation history, with the lowest number of crashes in 44 years.

About 136 serious accidents occurred in 2007--the fewest since 1963. 965 people died in plane crashes last year, which was a 25 percent drop from the previous year. In spite of this all, the International Air Transport Association say that travel actually increased over 3 percent in 2007.

The July crash in Brazil, where a jetliner crashed into a Sao Paulo building was the worst single accident that happened last year. The crash killed 199 people.

The goal in the years to come, should be to decrease global accident levels down to those in Europe and in the U.S., where accidents happen in only one in 1.5 million departures--about a third result in serious casualties.

One way in doing this is to raise the retiring age of pilots to ensure that the most experienced are in the cockpit. According to the IATA, the aviation industry is around 4,000 pilots short a year of what will be needed to keep up with rising air traffic demand.

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