Fewer planes crashed worldwide in 2006 than in any year since 1963, but the 1,292 death toll was in line with the average of the past 10 years, a Geneva-based monitoring agency reported on Jan. 2.

Last year there were 156 plane crashes, 22 fewer than in 2005, while the number of people killed in accidents fell 11 percent compared with the previous year, the Aircraft Crashes Record Office (BAAA) said in a statement.

North America saw the most crashes, with 32 percent of the total, followed by Africa with 18 percent and Asia with 17 percent.

The worst accident occurred in Ukraine, where 170 people were killed when a Tupolev-154 crashed on August 22.

The agency included only planes capable of carrying at least six people.