Aviation accidents in United States

76,200 accidents and incidents are recorded in United States (1982–2026), with 27,316 people killed and 14,061 seriously injured. 18% of the accidents were fatal.

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Takeaways

Deadliest accidents

  1. Airbus Industrie A300B4-605R, Belle Harbor, NY (Nov 12, 2001) · 260 killed
  2. Boeing 747-131, East Moriches, NY (Jul 18, 1996) · 230 killed
  3. EgyptAir Flight 990, Nantucket (Oct 31, 1999) · 216 killed
  4. Mcdonnell Douglas DC-9-82, Romulus, MI (Aug 17, 1987) · 154 killed
  5. Pan Am Flight 759, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (Jul 9, 1982) · 153 killed
  6. Delta Air Lines Flight 191, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (Aug 2, 1985) · 137 killed
  7. Boeing B-737-300, Aliquippa, PA (Sep 8, 1994) · 132 killed
  8. United Airlines Flight 232, Sioux Gateway Airport (Jul 19, 1989) · 111 killed
  9. ValuJet Flight 592, Everglades (May 11, 1996) · 110 killed
  10. Douglas MD-83, Port Hueneme, CA (Feb 1, 2000) · 88 killed

By year

AccidentsFatalKilled
19822,2783731,032
19832,7485331,037
19842,650465891
19852,4054411,108
19862,240406847
19872,1613871,016
19881,948365668
19891,863355824
19902,022398767
19911,971384811
19921,886393791
19931,838332620
19941,806371952
19951,889371658
19961,801334919
19971,736309601
19981,775323537
19991,803303786
20001,787338701
20011,806331968
20021,842353585
20031,924367694
20041,766340612
20051,819324565
20061,493289562
20071,599270478
20081,710282529
20091,601269524
20101,553264447
20111,605277467
20121,577270408
20131,313218384
20141,315250385
20151,314234408
20161,343207390
20171,332206349
20181,349224377
20191,302238410
20201,139201333
20211,214214353
20221,270204336
20231,215196309
20241,196182305
20251,175166367
2026821113205

By phase of flight

AccidentsFatalKilled
Landing8,073133203
Cruise4,1691,0801,969
Maneuvering3,1461,1541,796
Takeoff2,980271468
Approach2,8537021,350
Climb2,4556601,116
Ground1,1593545
Other2001624
Descent1305494

By main cause (NTSB coding)

AccidentsFatalKilled
Aircraft or equipment10,9611,4052,337
Pilot or crew10,0891,9903,460
Environment or weather1,698179300
Organization3913107

By type of operation

AccidentsFatalKilled
General aviation65,17812,18621,600
Agricultural4,561436457
Charter and air taxi3,2436581,813
Airline1,759421,404
Public aircraft571114212
External load4247998
Foreign airline126683
Unknown29520

US states

AccidentsFatalKilled
California8,1321,7503,344
Texas5,6789741,710
Alaska5,3065451,170
Florida5,1528851,538
Arizona2,708444891
Colorado2,672471942
Washington2,605432726
Michigan1,909338751
Illinois1,841281496
Georgia1,831404773

Aircraft makers

AccidentsFatalKilled
Cessna23,4763,4656,556
Piper12,8612,4684,845
Beech4,6011,2802,819
Bell2,097333637
Robinson1,364204337
Mooney1,216332590
Boeing1,21440545
Grumman99088168
Bellanca915173278
Air Tractor892130133

Aircraft models

AccidentsFatalKilled
Cessna 1725,8497361,355
Piper PA-283,7467621,454
Cessna 1502,746342487
Cessna 1822,376403750
Cessna 1521,985188287
Piper PA-181,419151224
Piper PA-321,132325786
Mooney M201,097303539
Cessna 18099778141
Bell 206953176361

Other countries

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.

Accidents

Accidents

Notable

0In view
0Killed
0Serious

    Sources: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain), 1982 to present, plus notable international accidents from Wikidata and Wikipedia. Mostly US events; not a complete global record. Findings may be preliminary. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, OpenMapTiles, OpenFreeMap.

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    Phase and cause come from the NTSB’s own coding of each accident, which only exists from 2008 on, so these two filters leave out 1982–2007. Cause categories are only recorded for some accidents, and early findings can change.

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