Incidents & Statistics

More than $6.4 trillion worth of goods travel by air every year, which accounts for 35 percent of all world trade value, according to IATA. This means there is a high potential for dangerous goods to be included in air cargo.

Events relating to dangerous goods are classified as either dangerous goods accidents or dangerous goods incidents. According to the IATA DGR, a dangerous goods accident is an "occurrence associated with and related to the transport of dangerous goods by air, which results in fatal or serious injury to a person or major property or environmental damage." A dangerous goods incident is an "occurrence other than a dangerous goods accident associated with and related to the transport of dangerous goods by air, not necessarily occurring on board an aircraft, which results in injury to a person, property or environmental damage, fire, breakage, spillage, leakage of fluid or radiation, or other evidence that the integrity of the packaging has not been maintained."

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Hazardous Material Safety, there have been 14,840 hazardous material incidents by air transport over the past 10 years, resulting in 123 injuries and no fatalities. The majority of these incidents occurred due to improper preparation for transportation and human error.

To learn more about IATA DGR visit our IATA DGR Refresher Online Training web page.