Aviation accidents in South Africa

80 accidents and incidents are recorded in South Africa (1986–2026), with 113 people killed and 14 seriously injured. 45% of the accidents were fatal.

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Takeaways

• Recorded accidents went from 1 in 1986 to 3 in 2025.

Deadliest accidents

1. 1986 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crash, Mbuzini (Oct 19, 1986) · 34 killed
2. Pilatus PC-12, Plettenberg, ZA (Feb 8, 2011) · 9 killed
3. Cessna 441, Cape Town, ZA (Aug 17, 2015) · 7 killed
4. Cessna 210, Livingstone, ZA (Sep 9, 2004) · 6 killed
5. Bell 430, Ladysmith Kwa Zulu Natal Province., ZA (Jan 21, 2021) · 5 killed
6. Robinson R44, Lusikisuki, near Port John, Eastern Cape Province, ZA (Aug 3, 2016) · 4 killed
7. Beech C90, Lanseria, ZA (Feb 3, 2014) · 3 killed
8. Cessna 182, Mpumalanga Province, ZA (Aug 27, 2016) · 3 killed
9. Cessna S550, George, ZA (Jan 23, 2020) · 3 killed
10. Air Tractor AT502, Carletonville, OF (Dec 29, 2023) · 3 killed

By year

By phase of flight

By type of operation

Aircraft makers

Aircraft models

Other countries

• United States · 76,200 accidents
• Brazil · 327 accidents
• Australia · 203 accidents
• Mexico · 154 accidents
• Colombia · 147 accidents
• Canada · 133 accidents
• France · 127 accidents
• United Kingdom · 109 accidents
• Venezuela · 100 accidents
• Russia · 84 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.