Posted on: May 21st, 2010 by Tiffany Propst

According to reports, Air France just achieved the top spot on an aviation list. Unfortunately for the airline, this was a list that airlines were trying not to top. Reports show that Air France has now been ranked as the world’s deadliest airline. The company’s recent record of disastrous crashes have already been gracing internet pages across the net.

An investigative journalist, Fabrice Amedeo, alleges that the failures seen at Air France are due to the company’s lax attitude in flight safety. Despite these claims, Air France went on to reject all these allegations.

Air France flights have fallen victim to several accidents in recent years, and according to some sources, the statistics compiled online rank its safety record as only the 65th best in the world. The company has seen 1,783 fatalities in its history. According to this tally compiled by the Swiss-based website Air Crashes Record Office, Air France has been the second most deadly airline for passengers – only being topped by Russia’s Aeroflot.

The well known German airline, Lufthansa, placed 43rd on the list of safety records. In June last year, Air France Flight 447 from Rio to Paris broke apart and plunged in to the Atlantic with the loss of all 228 people on board. The cause of the crash has not been officially determined as of yet. However, investigators found that the cockpit flight computer were receiving incorrect airspeed readings, and Air France has since replaced speed probes on their jets.

Amedeo went on to say that Air France has a fleet of ultramodern planes, and its pilots are among the best in the world. Yet its safety statistics are those of a second division company. The problem appears not to be technical, but cultural.