Prague, Jan 19 (CTK) – Eighteen people died in air accidents in the Czech Republic with a population of 10.5 million in 2016, which was more than twice as many as in 2015 and the number of sport plane and skydiver accidents also rose, Josef Bejdak, from the Air Accidents Investigation Institute (UZPLN), said on Thursday.
He said specialists investigated 77 air accidents in the country last year.
The rising number of accidents coincides with the growing number of people with a sport aviation hobby, Bejdak said, adding that less experienced pilots overestimate their skills and make mistakes.
One of the latest most tragic accidents was the crash of a sport aircraft in Central Bohemia on November 8, which killed both pilots aged 62 and 29. The causes are not known as yet.
The Air Accidents Investigation Institute was established in 2003, when it split from the Civil Aviation Authority.
In addition to looking into the causes of accidents, it issues recommendations for averting air accidents.
Review of serious air accidents in Czech Republic
year number of accidents number of fatalities
2011 54 14
2012 50 10
2013 66 9
2014 66 12*
2015 59 8
2016 77 18
* One fatal accident of a skydiver occurred atop Snezka Mountain at the Czech-Polish border.
Source: UZPLN
