2007 was one of the safest years in modern aviation history, with the lowest number of crashes worldwide in 44 years, an airline watchdog said on Wednesday.

There were 136 airline accidents around the world last year — 28 less than in 2006, the Air Crashes Record Office said in its annual report released Wednesday.

"This amount is the smallest since 1963," when there were 134 crashes and 1,496 deaths, the Geneva-based group said in a news release. The figures for 2007 are particularly encouraging considering the number of passenger kilometres has increased substantially since 1963.

The total of victims in 2007 was 965, a figure that was 25 per cent lower than the previous year and the lowest since 2004, the organization said.

Most crashes involved small, propeller-powered planes, the ACRO said. Larger, jet-powered planes accounted for only a quarter of the accidents, but carried the highest fatality figures because of the greater number of passengers.

Deadliest crash at Brazilian airport

The report, whose title called 2007 an "excellent year for civil aviation," said the worst crash last year happened on July 17 at the airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

A Tam Airbus 320 burst into flames when it slammed into a gas station and a building after narrowly clearing the airport's perimeter fence and rush-hour traffic on a highway.

The crash claimed the lives of all 187 aboard and 12 people on the ground.

In August, flight recorder transcripts from that plane revealed that mechanical failure may have caused the accident.

Other deadly accidents include one that happened in May when a Kenya Airways' Boeing 737-800 crashed in Douala, Cameroon, killing 114 people. On Jan. 1, 2007, an Adam Air Boeing 737-400 went down during a storm over the mountainous region of Indonesia's Sulawesi Island, killing 102 people.

Of the 136 aircraft that were lost, 100 were turboprop or piston engine, while 36 were jet aircraft. There were 34 accidents in the United States and 10 in Canada.

The safest continent for air travel in 2007 was Europe, which recorded no major accidents, the watchdog said.

With files from the Associated Press