While commercial air travel has achieved an astonishing zero fatal passenger jet accidents in the US over the last 14 years, a deep dive into global aviation statistics reveals a more complex safety landscape where risk factors vary dramatically between airline, general aviation, and military flying.
Key Takeaways
- Between 2013 and 2022, commercial jet airplanes experienced 59 hull-loss accidents resulting in 1,053 onboard fatalities worldwide
- In 2022, there were 5 fatal accidents involving commercial jets, causing 159 fatalities globally
- The global fatal accident rate for commercial jets in 2022 was 0.09 per million departures
- US general aviation had 1,181 accidents in 2022, 209 fatal
- From 2018-2022, GA fatal accident rate was 0.84 per 100,000 flight hours
- In 2023, 330 GA fatal accidents in US, 563 fatalities
- Military aviation accidents in US: 26 Class A mishaps in FY2022
- From 2013-2022, US DoD had 523 Class A/B mishaps, 128 fatalities
- F-35 program: 0 Class A mishaps in 2022, 1.2 per 100k hours rate
- In 2022, aviation accidents caused 129 fatalities worldwide
- US aviation: 358 deaths in 2022, 90% GA
- From 2013-2022, 7,043 onboard fatalities in commercial accidents
- Human error in 80% accidents, 53% fatalities
- Loss of control inflight: 40% GA fatal accidents
- Controlled flight into terrain: 12% commercial accidents 2013-2022
Despite improved safety, human error remains the main cause of aviation accidents.
Causal Factors
- Human error in 80% accidents, 53% fatalities
- Loss of control inflight: 40% GA fatal accidents
- Controlled flight into terrain: 12% commercial accidents 2013-2022
- Runway excursions: 27% all accidents 2010-2020
- Engine failure: 13% GA accidents
- Weather as factor: 25% fatal GA crashes 2007-2016
- Pilot error: 70-80% commercial accidents
- Bird strikes: 254 incidents 2022 US, 1 fatal
- Fuel mismanagement: 15% GA accidents 2018-2022
- Mechanical failure: 20% military mishaps 2013-2022
- Spatial disorientation: 11% fatal GA 2010-2020
- Runway overrun: 50% excursions wet runway
- Maintenance issues: 12% accidents 2019-2023
- Terrorism/sabotage: 1% accidents, 20% fatalities historically
- Icing: 8% weather accidents fatal
- Mid-air collision: 1% accidents, 5% fatalities GA
- Windshear: 2.5% takeoff/landing accidents
- Fatigue: 15-20% pilot-error accidents
- Controlled flight into terrain 21% military Class A 2010-2020
- System/component failure: 19% commercial 2013-2022
- Improper maintenance: 7% GA accidents
- Wake turbulence: 1 in 10,000 departures affected
- Fuel starvation: 10% powerplant GA accidents despite fuel available
Causal Factors Interpretation
Aviation's grim report card suggests that for all our sophisticated machinery, we remain the most frequent and inventive cause of trouble, whether by flying into things we shouldn't, running out of gas we actually have, or simply losing our composure and control miles above the earth.
Commercial Airlines
- Between 2013 and 2022, commercial jet airplanes experienced 59 hull-loss accidents resulting in 1,053 onboard fatalities worldwide
- In 2022, there were 5 fatal accidents involving commercial jets, causing 159 fatalities globally
- The global fatal accident rate for commercial jets in 2022 was 0.09 per million departures
- From 2003 to 2022, Airbus aircraft had 11 fatal accidents with 567 fatalities in commercial operations
- US commercial aviation had zero fatal passenger jet accidents from 2009 to 2022, totaling over 20 million flights
- In 2021, commercial aviation accidents totaled 32 worldwide, with a fatality rate of 0.11 per million sectors
- Boeing 737 family involved in 529 incidents since 1967, with 5,779 fatalities
- From 1959-2023, there have been 1,048 major commercial aviation accidents
- European commercial airliners had 0.38 accidents per million flights in 2022
- In 2020, COVID-19 led to a 37% drop in commercial accidents to 24 incidents
- LATAM Airlines had 1 fatal accident in 2010 with 0 fatalities in recent decade
- From 2018-2022, 7 runway excursions in commercial jets caused 2 fatalities
- Global commercial turbine accidents averaged 5.5 fatal events per year 2013-2022
- In 2023, 4 commercial jet hull losses occurred, all non-fatal
- US Part 121 operators reported 28 accidents in 2022, none fatal
- Airbus A320 family has 1.2 fatal accidents per million flights since 1988
- From 1945-2023, piston-engine commercial flights had 0.24 fatal accidents per 100k hours
- IATA members had 0 fatal accidents in 2022 across 4.5 million flights
- In Asia-Pacific, commercial accidents rose 20% in 2022 to 12 events
- Boeing 777 series: 0 fatal passenger accidents in 30+ years
- 2022 saw 1.3 accidents per million departures for jets over 60 seats
- From 2012-2021, 45 controlled flight into terrain events in commercial ops
- Emirates Airlines: 0 fatal accidents since 1985
- In 2019, 37 commercial accidents worldwide, 257 fatalities
- EU commercial aviation: 0.55 accidents per million flights 2018-2022 avg
- Southwest Airlines: 1 fatal accident in 20+ years (2018), 20 fatalities
- Global jet fleet accident rate: 1.12 per million departures 2008-2017
- In 2023 Q1-Q3, 2 fatal commercial accidents, 140 deaths
- Delta Air Lines: No fatal crashes since 1996
- 1959-2022: De Havilland Comet had 5 fatal accidents, 145 fatalities
Commercial Airlines Interpretation
The statistics reveal that while commercial aviation relentlessly pursues the unachievable goal of absolute perfection, it has come astonishingly close, building a safety record so robust that you are far more likely to be injured by your own luggage than by the fundamental physics of flight.
Fatalities and Injuries
- In 2022, aviation accidents caused 129 fatalities worldwide
- US aviation: 358 deaths in 2022, 90% GA
- From 2013-2022, 7,043 onboard fatalities in commercial accidents
- GA US: 1,237 fatalities 2018-2022 average 247/year
- 2023 saw 121 commercial fatalities globally
- Injuries in US accidents 2022: 24 serious, 1,200 minor
- MH370 disappearance: 239 presumed fatalities 2014
- From 2000-2019, 45,662 GA fatalities US
- 2022 peak year: 164 fatalities commercial jets
- Non-fatal injuries: 70% from turbulence 2010-2020
- Ethiopia 302 crash: 157 fatalities 2019
- Average GA fatal accident: 1.7 fatalities per crash US 2022
- Global 2021: 176 fatalities aviation, lowest in decade
- US total aviation deaths 2023 prelim: 306
- Air India Express 134 deaths 2020
- Serious injuries GA US: 142 in 2022
- From 2010-2020, 2,409 fatalities commercial worldwide
- Yeti Airlines Nepal: 72 fatalities 2023
- US commercial injuries: 47 serious 2018-2022
- Brazil Voepass ATR72: 62 fatalities 2024
- 75% of fatalities in first 30 seconds of crash
- 2020 lowest: 299 global aviation fatalities
- GA Australia: 30 fatalities 2022
- Loss of control: 40.8% of GA fatalities 2001-2016
- CFIT caused 15% commercial fatalities 2013-2022
- Weather: 23% GA fatal accidents 2019-2023
- Runway incursions: 0.5% fatalities US aviation 2022
Fatalities and Injuries Interpretation
Aviation safety is a relentless, data-driven battle where we've learned to mostly cage the dragon of catastrophic failure in commercial flight, yet its smaller, more nimble cousin, General Aviation, remains a persistent and sobering challenge requiring constant vigilance.
General Aviation
- US general aviation had 1,181 accidents in 2022, 209 fatal
- From 2018-2022, GA fatal accident rate was 0.84 per 100,000 flight hours
- In 2023, 330 GA fatal accidents in US, 563 fatalities
- Piston singles accounted for 76% of GA accidents 2012-2021
- GA loss of control in flight caused 40% of fatal accidents 2001-2016
- 2022 GA accident rate: 5.85 per 100,000 hours, highest for night VFR
- From 2014-2023, 1,452 GA accidents involved fuel exhaustion
- Experimental aircraft had 12.4 fatal accidents per 100k hours 2022
- In Canada, GA accidents totaled 172 in 2022, 28 fatal
- GA mid-air collisions: 23 in US 2017-2021, 42 fatalities
- 75% of GA fatal accidents occur within 3 miles of airport
- US GA flights: 31.4 million in 2022, accident rate 5.78/100k hours
- Rotorcraft GA accidents: 89 in 2022 US, 17 fatal
- GA weather-related accidents: 7% total, 25% fatal 2019-2023
- From 2008-2017, GA fatal rate declined 16% to 1.01/100k hours
- 2023 preliminary: 1,145 GA accidents US, 181 fatal
- Turboprop GA: 0.92 fatal accidents/100k hours 2018-2022
- GA spin-related accidents: 118 from 2010-2020
- In Australia, GA accidents 145 in 2022, 24 fatal
- US GA personal flights: 85% of accidents, 0.98 fatal rate/100k hours
- Night GA accidents 3x more likely fatal, 2022 data
- GA engine failure: 13% of accidents, 18% fatal 2015-2019
- 2019-2023: 356 GA accidents due to spatial disorientation
- Light sport aircraft: 2.1 accidents/100k hours 2022
General Aviation Interpretation
A disquieting pattern emerges where pilots, often just moments from touchdown, are most vulnerable to a cascade of lapses in skill, judgment, or mechanical vigilance, revealing that the gravest danger in general aviation isn’t the vastness of the sky but the complacency that creeps in close to home.
Military Aviation
- Military aviation accidents in US: 26 Class A mishaps in FY2022
- From 2013-2022, US DoD had 523 Class A/B mishaps, 128 fatalities
- F-35 program: 0 Class A mishaps in 2022, 1.2 per 100k hours rate
- US Navy aviation: 4 Class A mishaps FY2023, 2 fatalities
- From 2018-2022, Army helicopter accidents: 45 Class A, 22 deaths
- RAF UK: 1 fatal accident in 2022, Eurofighter Typhoon
- US Air Force: Mishap rate 1.02 Class A per 100k hours FY2022
- Black Hawk UH-60: 269 accidents since 1979, 1,292 fatalities
- From 2006-2015, drone military accidents: 342 Class A/B/C
- Indian Air Force: 54 crashes 2015-2023, 127 fatalities
- USMC aviation: 2 Class A mishaps FY2022
- F-16 Fighting Falcon: 512 accidents, 269 destroyed 1978-2023
- Russian military aviation: 141 accidents 2010-2020, 300+ fatalities
- Australian Defence Force: 0 fatal flying accidents 2022-2023
- Apache AH-64: 302 accidents since 1984, 479 fatalities
- French Army aviation: 3 fatal accidents 2018-2022, 8 deaths
- US Space Force: First Class A mishap 2023, satellite launch failure
- Israeli Air Force: 0 combat losses F-35 2016-2023
- Turkish military: 17 helicopter crashes 2015-2023, 50 fatalities
- Global military fixed-wing rate: 4.5 Class A/100k hours 2010-2020
- US Army: Rotary-wing mishaps declined 50% 2013-2022
Military Aviation Interpretation
The grim statistics remind us that while military aviation is statistically safer than ever, the machines are complex, the stakes are impossible, and the sky remains a brutally unforgiving place to learn a lesson.
Safety Trends
- Global accidents peaked 1990s at 10/million departures, now 2.5
- Commercial fatal rate fell 50% 2013-2022 to 0.11/million
- GA US fatal rate: 0.84/100k hours 2022, down from 1.3 in 2005
- Jet hull loss rate: 0.44/million departures 2013-2022
- Military mishaps US: Declined 60% since 1990 to 2.5/100k hours
- EASA region: Accident rate 1.0/million flights 2022, down 20%
- ADS-B mandate reduced mid-airs 50% post-2020
- Runway incursion rate: 16.2/ million ops 2023, down 10%
- Global fatalities/million boardings: 0.09 in 2022, lowest ever
- GA safety improved 2.5%/year 2012-2022
- ICAO accident rate: 2.02/ million departures 2022, down from 3.72
- US commercial: Zero fatal jet accidents 14 years running
- Helicopter fatal rate: 0.72/100k hours 2022, down 30%
- TCAS saved 50+ accidents since 1990
- Bird strike reports up 200% 1990-2020 but fatalities down
- EU GA rate: 5.3/100k hours 2022, improved 15%
- Drone integration: Zero fatal conflicts commercial 2020-2023
Safety Trends Interpretation
The aviation industry has spent decades meticulously engineering its own obsolescence in the art of crashing, transforming flight from a statistically daring proposition into a triumph of relentless, data-driven vigilance.
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