I'm looking for statistics that will capture how technology has made
aviation safer over the last 25-30 years, and perhaps some of the key
innovations.  These could be fatalities relative the number of
travellers of flights, or miles travelled.  Commercial would probably
be the best indicator

Hello Lhunt,   


The National Transportation Safety Board provides aviation accident
and fatality statistics for the last thirty years in the tables below.


Table 4. Number and Rate of Destroyed Aircraft, 1985 through 2004, for
U.S. Air Carriers

This table provides statistics for Hull losses, aircraft hours flown
and hull losses per million hours flown from 1985-2004.

http://www.ntsb.gov/Aviation/Table4.htm


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Table 10. 

Accidents, Fatalities, and Rates, 1985 through 2004, 
U.S. General Aviation 

This table provides statistics for accidents, fatalities, total flight
hours, and accidents per 100,000 flight hours from 1985-2004

http://www.ntsb.gov/Aviation/Table10.htm


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Table 6.  

Accidents, Fatalities, and Rates, 1985 through 2004,  for U.S. Air
Carriers Operating Under 14 CFR 121, Scheduled Service (Airlines)

This table provides statistics for accidents, fatalities, accidents
per 100,000 flight hours, accidents per 1,000,000  miles flown and 
accidents  per 100,000  departures from 1985-2004.

http://www.ntsb.gov/Aviation/Table6.htm 


Source:
AVIATION ACCIDENT STATISTICS
National Transportation Safety Board 
http://www.ntsb.gov/Aviation/Stats.htm

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According to David Learmount, operations and safety editor for Flight
International magazine, airline safety worldwide is now six times
better than it was 25 years ago.

?In 1979 there were three fatal accidents per million flights,
compared with one fatal accident per two million flights by last year,
according to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)
figures.?

BBC News: 24 August 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4163280.stm


------------------------------------------------------------------------


?It has been said that the safety record for commercial flying in the
United States is one of the safest in the world.  Arnold Barnett, a
statistician from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology noted that
the death risk was 1 in 2 million in the decade from 1967 to 1976.  It
is estimated that the risk today is in the region of 1 in 10
millions.?

How Safe is  flying today?  
http://www.geocities.com/khlim777_my/ashowsafe1.htm


------------------------------------------------------------------------


Aircraft innovations and technology over the last 30 years using the
Airbus as an example.

1974: 
?Airline industry?s first twin-engine widebody aircraft.?

1977: 
?A300 was equipped with Category IIA autoland capability in, allowing
the aircraft to land in limited visibility.?

Early 1980s: 
?The A300 became the first twin-aisle aircraft to have a two-crew
cockpit with all instruments in front of the pilots, using the latest
in digital technology.?

Soon after: 
?Airbus introduced advanced cathode ray tube cockpit displays and
composite materials in secondary structures on the A310.?

By 1985: 
?Composites were applied on primary structures and in the innovative
drag-reducing wingtip devices that were being introduced on the
A310-300.?

1988: 
?The introduction of the electronically-managed fly-by-wire flight
control system and side-stick controllers on the A320, which also
became the first single-aisle aircraft to offer a wider fuselage
cross-section and a fully containerised cargo loading system in the
below-deck cargo hold.?

?The world?s first carbon-fibre keel beam for a large commercial
aircraft was built for the A340-600, and Airbus? 21st century airliner
? the 555-seat A380 ?is continuing the tradition of innovation with
advanced aerodynamics, high-pressure hydraulics and the increased use
of carbon fibre reinforced plastic.?
Airbus 
http://www.airbus.com/en/corporate/innovation/


Composite Materials

?Airbus is a recognized leader in the use of composite materials to
reduce aircraft weight and improve maintainability, and in the
development of ergonomically-designed flight decks which use the very
latest in advanced technologies. Airbus' development of composites has
led to the widespread acceptance of such materials in civil aviation
manufacturing.?
Airbus
http://www.airbus.com/en/myairbus/airbusview/technological_leadership.html


Search criteria:
Aircraft accident and statistics ?miles flown? ?flight hours?
Aviation technology flying safer last "5..30 years"

I hope the information provided is helpful!

Best regards,
Bobbie7

Excellent.  Just what I need.  Thanks.