Two Plane Crashes Lead to Deadliest Year in Skies Since 2018 (3)

Commercial aviation has suffered its deadliest year since 2018 after the Jeju Air Co. disaster in South Korea and last week’s downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane.

Fatalities onboard passenger aircraft jumped to 318 this year with the two recent accidents, data compiled by Cirium shows. That’s by far the highest death toll since more than 500 people died in 2018, a year marked by the first of two Boeing Co. 737 Max crashes.

The tail of Jeju Air plane at the site of a plane fire at Muan International Airport, South Korea, on Dec. 29.

Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

This year started and ended with tragedies in Japan and South Korea during attempted landings, among the most dangerous phases of flight. Fatal aviation accidents ...