Safety is a top priority in aviation and is at the core of one of ICAO’s Strategic Goals. International cooperation by governments and industry groups, with the support of ICAO, ensures commercial aircraft are the safest mode of travel. To support Member States and the industry, ICAO has laid out a comprehensive strategy known as the Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP). GASP presents the global strategy for the continuous improvement of aviation safety.
To better explain what the plan is…
The GASP assists States by providing a collaborative framework to manage operational safety risks and organizational challenges, through their respective NASPs, together with industry. Over half of ICAO States have already published a NASP, in line with the GASP, and all the current NASPs can be found on ICAO’s website.
Purpose of the GASP
ICAO has an essential aspiration to achieve zero fatalities in international aviation from accidents and acts of unlawful interference. The GASP aims to reduce fatalities and the risk of fatalities associated with accidents by guiding the harmonized development and implementation of RASPs and NASPs. This endeavor contributes to the economic development of States and their industries by establishing a safe, resilient, and sustainable aviation system.
To advance global civil aviation safety, the GASP adheres to the following values:
- Promoting a positive safety culture
- Recognizing and promoting the aviation sector’s responsibility for the safety of the public
- Encouraging collaboration, teamwork, and shared learning in the management of safety
- Protecting safety data and safety information
- Promoting the sharing and exchange of safety information
- Taking data-driven decisions
- Prioritizing actions to address operational safety risks and organizational challenges through a risk-based approach
- Allocating resources to identify and analyze hazards and safety deficiencies, and address their consequences or outcomes through a risk-based approach; and
- Proactively managing emerging issues
An evolving strategy
Recognizing the dynamic nature of the aviation landscape, ICAO continues to evolve the GASP to ensure its sustained effectiveness and sustainability in the changing regulatory, economic, and technical environments. The 2026-2028 edition of the GASP retains some fundamental elements from the previous editions, such as the majority of the goals and the five global high-risk categories of occurrences (G-HRCs). The latest edition includes new and revised targets and amendments based on feedback received, mainly as part of the Fourteenth Air Navigation Conference.
The goals and targets for the 2026–2028 edition of the GASP focus on the main operational safety risks and organizational challenges that States are facing and are meant to serve as catalysts to address them..
A vision for zero fatalities
Central to GASP’s vision, and the ICAO Strategic Plan for 2026-2050, is to achieve and maintain the aspirational safety goal of zero fatalities in commercial operations by 2030 and beyond. By providing a framework for States, regions and industry, the GASP aims to enhance international aviation safety performance and resilience by:
- Achieving a continuous reduction of operational safety risks
- Strengthening States’ safety oversight capabilities
- Calling for the establishment and management of State safety programmes
- Strengthening collaboration at the regional and national levels to address safety issues
- Strengthening aviation safety planning, through regional aviation safety plans (RASPs) and NASPs
- Expanding the use of industry evaluation and safety data sharing programmes
The global aviation safety roadmap
To mitigate the risk of fatalities, States, regions, and industry need to address the G-HRCs. These could include controlled flight into terrain, loss of control in-flight, mid-air collision, runway excursion, and runway incursion.
This edition of the GASP also addresses three other global risk categories of occurrences, in addition to the G-HRCs, which though they may not have a high fatality risk, figure prominently in the most frequent types of accidents and serious incidents across ICAO regions: abnormal runway contact; system/component failure or malfunction (non-powerplant); and turbulence encounters.
These G-HRCs other global risk categories of occurrences, as well as specific safety enhancement initiatives (SEIs) to address them, are outlined in the global aviation safety roadmap. The global aviation safety roadmap serves as an action plan to assist the aviation community in the development and implementation of RASPs and NASPs.
Each SEI includes a set of actions that stakeholders may use to develop and implement specific action plans. States and regions, in collaboration with industry, should use the roadmap to feed or complement national and regional safety management activities and develop specific SEIs to support the strategy presented in their RASPs and NASPs.
It takes collaboration
The GASP enables collaboration, recognizing that aviation safety is a shared responsibility involving States, regions, and industry stakeholders. It ensures consistent efforts and reduces inconsistencies and duplications by providing a structured approach to safety planning. The plan offers a safety strategy and serves as a guide the development of regional and national strategies as well as action plans that support implementation.
Is the goal of “Zero Fatalities” an impossible mission?
The GASP strives to achieve the ambitious vision of zero fatalities in commercial aviation by emphasizing risk management and encouraging ongoing improvements. As the aviation industry continues to evolve, GASP evolves with it. But in a world of autonomous aircraft, cyber threats, and hybrid operations, is this goal achievable or an aspirational ideal?
Reimagining safety, and also security, in the age of innovation?
This will be a central theme during the ICAO Global Implementation Support Symposium (GISS), that will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, from 14 to 16 April 2026.
To ground the discussion in reality, a panel session on the first day of the event will explore what it takes to move from vision to reality and how past challenges may serve as lessons learned to set the foundation for a robust global aviation system that can prevent future accidents. The panel is composed of leading experts in aviation safety from States, regional entities and industry. They will try to ultimately find the answer to the question: Is the goal of “Zero Fatalities” truly achievable, or will it remain an aspiration?