Part of it is in the linked article.<p>Bottom line: As flying increased in frequency, injuries went up linearly and people freaked out. The demands for better design, efficiency and well, safety, drove the industry to adopt standards very quickly which led to better records. There are some graphs out there that show it well [1].<p>[1]<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.planecrashinfo.com&#x2F;cause.htm" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.planecrashinfo.com&#x2F;cause.htm</a>