London - The number of airline accidents and deaths rose in the 1990s but passengers were safer at the end of the decade than at the beginning, according to a report released yesterday. Flight International magazine said accidents increased by 28 per cent to 480 worldwide during the 1990s compared with the decade before. Fatalities rose by 12.5 per cent to 11,950. It said the average risk to passengers fell because the number of travellers increased by 32 per cent, the number of flights by 30 per cent and the average distance per journey by 12.5 per cent. Flight International said the 1990s saw a gradual improvement in safety rates, meaning that passengers at the end of the decade were statistically safer than they were at the beginning.