Douglas aircraft accidents

178 accidents and incidents are recorded involving Douglas aircraft (1982–2026), with 238 people killed and 60 seriously injured. 18% of the accidents were fatal.

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Takeaways

• General aviation accounts for 36% of these accidents and 15% of deaths. Airline flights account for 46% of accidents.
• Among accidents with a coded cause, Aircraft or equipment was the main factor in 63%, followed by pilot or crew (38%).
• Recorded accidents went from 7 in 1982 to 3 in 2025.

Deadliest accidents

1. Douglas MD-83, Port Hueneme, CA (Feb 1, 2000) · 88 killed
2. Douglas DC-9-31, Charlotte, NC (Jul 2, 1994) · 37 killed
3. Douglas DC-9-14, Milwaukee, WI (Sep 6, 1985) · 31 killed
4. Douglas DC3, Vereda La Bendicion, CO (Mar 9, 2019) · 14 killed
5. Douglas DC-3, Dekalb, TX (Dec 31, 1985) · 7 killed
6. Douglas DC-8-63F, Narrows, VA (Dec 22, 1996) · 6 killed
7. Douglas DC-8-63, Swanton, OH (Feb 15, 1992) · 4 killed
8. Douglas DC-6A, Russian Mission, AK (Jul 20, 1996) · 4 killed
9. Douglas DC-3C/BT-67R, Newton, WI (Mar 15, 1997) · 4 killed
10. Douglas DC3C-S1C3G, Memphis, TN (Aug 11, 1984) · 3 killed

By year

By phase of flight

By main cause (NTSB coding)

By type of operation

US states

Countries outside the US

Aircraft models

Other aircraft makers

• Cessna · 24,148 accidents
• Piper · 13,241 accidents
• Beech · 4,780 accidents
• Bell · 2,250 accidents
• Boeing · 1,579 accidents
• Robinson · 1,575 accidents
• Mooney · 1,237 accidents
• Grumman · 1,000 accidents
• Air Tractor · 932 accidents
• Bellanca · 918 accidents

These are counts of recorded accidents, not risk rates: the data has no flight hours, so a place or aircraft near the top mostly reflects how much flying happens there. Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain), plus notable international accidents from Wikidata and Wikipedia. US-heavy; the NTSB only codes phase and cause for accidents from 2008 on, so those tables leave out earlier years.