Facts + Statistics: Aviation and drones

World Aviation Accidents

More than 4 billion people flew safely on 41.8 million flights in 2017, 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 0.11 in 2017, or about one major accident for every 8.7 million flights. The 2017 accident rate was an improvement from the 0.39 rate experienced in 2016, and an improvement from the five-year rate of 0.33 from 2012 to 2016. A hull loss is an accident in which the aircraft is destroyed or substantially damaged and is not subsequently repaired. There were 45 accidents in 2017 (on Eastern- and Western-built aircraft), down significantly from 67 in 2015 and 2016.

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.

Aircraft Accidents In The United States, 2016 (1)

    Number of accidents    
  Flight
hours
(000)		 Total Fatal Number of
fatalities (2)		 Accidents
per 100,000
flight hours
Commercial airlines          
     10 or more seats          
          Scheduled 17,853,752 27 0 0 0.151
          Nonscheduled 420,475 4 0 0 0.951
     Less than 10 seats          
          Commuter 379,761 8 2 8 2.107
          On-demand 3,499,517 31 7 19 0.886
General aviation 21,333,747 1,266 213 386 5.925
Total civil aviation NA 1,335 221 408 NA

(1) Preliminary data. Totals do not add because of collisions involving aircraft in different categories.
(2) Includes nonpassenger deaths.

NA=Data not available.

Source: National Transportation Safety Board.

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    • There were 1,335 civil aviation accidents in 2016, up from 1,280 in 2015. Total fatalities rose to 408 in 2016 from 406 in 2015.
    • There were no fatalities on large scheduled commercial airlines in 2016 for the seventh consecutive year. There were no fatalities on large nonscheduled airlines (charter airlines) for the third consecutive year.
    • Small commuter airlines had eight accidents in 2016 compared with four accidents in 2015. There were eight fatalities in 2016 following one in 2015.
    • The number of small on-demand airline (air taxi) accidents fell to 31 in 2016 compared with 39 in 2015.
    • There were 1,266 general aviation (noncommercial) accidents in 2016, up from 1,210 in 2015. 2016 accidents resulted in 386 deaths, up from 378 in 2015. However, the National Transportation Safety Board notes that the number of fatal general aviation accidents decreased to 213 in 2016, resulting in the fatal accident rate dropping below 1 fatal accident per 100,000 flight hours for the first time in 50 years.

    Large Airline Accidents In The United States, 2007-2016 (1)

    Year Flight
    hours    		 Total
    accidents    		 Fatal
    accidents    		 Total
    fatalities (2)    		 Total accidents
    per 100,000
    flight hours
    2007 19,637,322 28 1 1 0.143
    2008 19,126,766 27 2 3 0.141
    2009 17,626,832 30 2 52 0.170
    2010 17,750,986 30 1 2 0.169
    2011 17,962,965 33 0 0 0.184
    2012 17,722,236 26 0 0 0.147
    2013 17,717,957 23 2 9 0.130
    2014 17,752,026 32 0 0 0.180
    2015 17,928,551 30 0 0 0.167
    2016 (3) 18,274,227 31 0 0 0.170

    (1) Scheduled and unscheduled planes with more than 10 seats.
    (2) Includes nonpassenger deaths.
    (3) Preliminary.

    Source: National Transportation Safety Board.

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    World Aviation Accidents, 2013-2017

      Accidents (1)    
    Year Total Fatal Fatalities (1) Accident rate (2)
    2013 86 14 178 0.38
    2014 77 12 641 0.27
    2015 67 4 136 0.32
    2016 67 9 202 0.39
    2017 45 6 19 0.11

    (1) On Eastern and Western built jet aircraft.
    (2) Measured in hull losses per million flights of Western built jet aircraft. A hull loss is an accident in which the aircraft is destroyed or substantially damaged and is not subsequently repaired.

    Source: International Air Transport Association.

    View Archived Tables

    Top 10 Deadliest World Aviation Crashes

    Rank Date Location Country Operator Fatalities
    1 Mar. 27, 1977 Tenerife Spain Pan Am, KLM 583
    2 Aug. 12, 1985 Yokota AFB Japan JAL 520
    3 Nov. 12, 1996 New Delhi India Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kazakhstan Airlines 349
    4 Mar. 3, 1974 Ermenonville France Turkish Airlines 346
    5 Jun. 23, 1985 Atlantic Ocean   Air India 329
    6 Aug. 19, 1980 Jedda Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian Airlines 301
    7 Jul. 17, 2014 Grabovo Ukraine Malaysia Airlines 298
    8 Jul. 3, 1988 Persian Gulf   Iran Air 290
    9 Feb. 19, 2003 Kerman Iran Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force 275
    10 May 25, 1979 Chicago U.S. American Airlines 273

    Source: Aircraft Crashes Record Office, Geneva (baaa-acro.com/Statistics.html).

    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.  

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