Aviation Information & Stats

Plane Crash Statistics

Of the major carriers in the U.S. and Canada (minimum 5 million total flights) only one has avoided a fatal airplane crash. In more than 15 million flights, Southwest Airlines has not had a passenger fatality. Contrast that to American Airlines, which has had 13 events in more than 25 million flights or United Airlines, which has had 11 events in more than 22 million flights or US Airways, which has had 9 events in about 18 million flights.

Airline	Number of flights	Number of fatal accidents
Southwest	>15,000,000	0
American	>25,000,000	13
United	>22,000,000	11
US Airways	>18,000,000	9

A Southwest Airlines plane was involved in a fatal accident, however. On December 8, 2005, Southwest Airlines flight 1248, a Boeing 737-7H4, ran off the departure end of runway 31 center (31C) after landing at Chicago Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois. The airplane rolled through a blast fence, an airport perimeter fence, and onto an adjacent roadway, where it struck an automobile before coming to a stop. A child in the automobile was killed, one automobile occupant received serious injuries, and three other automobile occupants received minor injuries. Eighteen of the airplane occupants received minor injuries.

From 2000-2009, the average number of fatal accidents per year for all U.S. scheduled and nonscheduled (charter) flights (airlines) was 2.3. This included six fatal crashes in 2001, four of which occurred during the events of September 11 of that year. The only year with no fatal aviation crashes was 2002.

Causes of Fatal Accidents by Decade (percentage)

Cause	1950s	1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s	All
Pilot Error	40	32	24	25	27	25	29
Pilot Error (weather related)	11	18	14	17	21	17	16
Pilot Error (mechanical related)	7	5	4	2	4	3	4
Total Pilot Error	58	57	42	44	53	45	50
Other Human Error	0	8	9	6	8	9	7
Weather	16	10	13	15	9	8	12
Mechanical Failure	21	20	23	21	21	28	22
Sabotage	5	5	11	13	10	9	9
Other Cause	0	2	2	1	0	1	1

The table above is compiled from the PlaneCrashInfo.com accident database and represents 1,300 fatal accidents involving commercial aircraft, worldwide, from 1950 through 2008 for which a specific cause is known. Aircraft with 10 or fewer people aboard, military aircraft, private aircraft, and helicopters are not included.

Type of Flight	Fatalities per million flight hours
Airliner (Scheduled and nonscheduled Part 121)	4.03
Commuter Airline (Scheduled Part 135)	10.74
Commuter Plane (Nonscheduled Part 135 - Air taxi on demand)	12.24
General Aviation (Private Part 91)	22.43

Sources: NTSB Accidents and Accident Rates by NTSB Classification 1998-2007

Which types of planes have crashed the most?

Here are the 10 types of planes with the most fatal crashes per million flights.

1. Concorde—11.36
2. Embraer Bandeirante—3.07
3. Fokker F28—1.67
4. Airbus A310—1.47
5. Boeing 747—0.74
6. Embraer Brasilia—0.71
7. Boeing DC10—0.66
8. Boeing DC9—0.57
9. AirbusA300—0.53
10. Boeing MD11—0.52

Source:

www.airsafe.com/events/models/rate_mod.htm

More Aviation Accident Statistics

• Accidents involving passenger fatalities in U.S. airlines 1982-present: www.ntsb.gov/aviation/Paxfatal.htm

• Accidents involving passenger fatalities in U.S. commuters 1982-present: www.ntsb.gov/aviation/Paxftl35.htm

• Accidents and Accident Rates by NTSB Classification, 1989 through 2008, for U.S. Air Carriers Operating Under 14 CFR 121: www.ntsb.gov/aviation/Table2.htm

• Passenger Injuries and Injury Rates, 1989 through 2008, for U.S. Air Carriers Operating Under 14 CFR 121: www.ntsb.gov/aviation/Table3.htm

Aviation Lawyers

The aviation attorneys at Nurenberg Paris will thoroughly investigate your claim when you’ve been injured in an aviation accident. We take the time to research important airplane information and plane crash statistics to ensure we are well-versed and fully prepared for your case. We’ve been helping airline crash victims since 1928, and you can count us to help you, too.