06/09/2005 20:27  - (SA)  

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Geneva - Air accidents have claimed more lives already this year than in the whole of 2004, a private monitoring organisation said on Wednesday.

About 851 people have died since January 1 in 120 accidents, said the Geneva-based aircraft crashes record office (Acro), which logs deaths in civilian planes transporting at least six passengers.

In 2004, the death toll was 766 in 160 accidents - which makes last year the safest recorded by Acro, said the organisation's Ronan Hubert.

He warned against alarming headlines that assumed 2005 was a "black year" for civil aviation.

Despite high-profile disasters, aircraft safety was constantly improving, he said.

In addition, global air traffic had snowballed, meaning that the number of accidents today was proportionally far smaller than it was decades ago.

The worst year on record was 1972, when the death toll reached 3 209 in 280 accidents, said Acro.