Facts + Statistics: Aviation and drones

World Aviation Accidents

In 2016 more than 3.8 billion people flew safely on 40.4 million flights, according to the International Air Transport Association. The major global accident rate (as measured by the rate of hull losses on Western-built jets) was 0.39 in 2016, or about one major accident for every 2.56 million flights. The 2016 accident rate was slightly worse than the 0.32 rate in 2015 and the 0.27 rate in 2014 and the previous five-year rate of 0.36. A hull loss is an accident in which the aircraft is destroyed or substantially damaged and is not subsequently repaired. There were 65 accidents in 2016 (on Eastern- and Western-built aircraft), down slightly from 68 in 2015.

The deadliest world aviation accident was the collision of two Boeing 747 passenger planes on the runway of an airport in the Spanish island of Tenerife in 1977. The crash resulted in the deaths of 583 out of 644 passengers according to the Geneva-based Aircraft Crashes Record Office’s list of Worst Aviation Accidents.

United States

In the United States the National Transportation Safety Board compiles data on aviation flight hours, accidents and fatalities for commercial and general aviation.

Commercial airlines are divided into two categories according to the type of aircraft used: aircraft with 10 or more seats and aircraft with fewer than 10 seats. The nonscheduled commercial aircraft with more than 10 seats are also called charter airlines. Commercial airlines flying aircraft with fewer than 10 seats include commuter (scheduled) airlines, and on-demand air taxis. General aviation includes all U.S. noncommercial or privately owned aircraft.

In fiscal year 2017 about 841 million people flew on commercial airlines in the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration projects that about 1.28 billion people will fly on scheduled commercial airlines in the United States annually by 2038.

Drones

The number of small hobbyist drones registered in the United States is projected to grow from 1.1 million units in 2017 to 2.4 million in 2022, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Commercial (small non-model drones) registrations totaled  110,604 in 2017 and are projected to grow to 451,800 in 2022. Except for the eight-month period from May 2017 to December 2017, the FAA required owners of hobbyist and commercial drones weighing more than 0.55 and less than 55 pounds to register them and mark them with a registration number, beginning December 2015. Larger drones—weighing over 55 pounds—must register with the FAA as traditional aircraft.

In October 2017 the Trump administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a new drone integration pilot program designed to expedite the integration of drones into the national airspace system. The initiative creates a regulatory framework that officials say will encourage innovation while ensuring airspace safety. The program aims to accelerate testing of currently restricted unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operations, such as beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights and flights over people. This program hopes to facilitate the delivery of life-saving medicines and commercial packages, inspections of critical infrastructure, support for emergency management operations, and surveys of crops for precision agriculture applications. The pilot program will include testing of new UAS traffic management systems and detection and tracking capabilities, which are needed to fully integrate UAS operations into the national airspace system.

Insurance Coverage: If a drone is damaged in an accident it is most likely covered under a homeowners insurance policy (subject to a deductible). Coverage also applies to renters insurance. The liability portion of a homeowners or renters policy may provide coverage against lawsuits for bodily injury or property damage that a policyholder causes to other people with a drone. It may also cover privacy issues–for example if a drone inadvertently takes pictures or videotapes a neighbor who then sues the policyholder. It will not cover any intentional invasion of privacy. The policy will cover theft of a drone. Damage or injuries caused by a drone used for commercial (i.e. business) purposes will not be covered by a homeowners policy.

A no-fault medical coverage policy may provide no-fault medical coverage if someone is accidentally injured by your drone. However, this coverage will not pay medical bills for a policyholder’s family members or pets if they are injured by the policyholder’s drone.   

If a policyholder’s drone crash-lands into his or her car, damage may be covered under auto insurance’s optional comprehensive insurance.

General liability insurance policies commonly contain exclusions for aviation activities. Insurers are entering the market for drone insurance and creating coverage tailored to drones and their equipment. Commercial drone operators can purchase commercial aviation insurance to cover property damage and liability caused by a drone. The policy would cover the drone, its equipment and remote control systems. Commercial aviation companies use underwriting processes similar to ones used for manned aircraft policies to cover drones.