Aviation accident statistics, 1982–2026

79,756 accidents and incidents in the NTSB database, with 57,032 people killed and 14,887 seriously injured. 20% of accidents were fatal.

Takeaways

• Landing is the most common phase of flight (31% of accidents with a recorded phase), but 2% of those were fatal. Descent accidents were fatal 43% of the time.
• General aviation accounts for 83% of these accidents and 74% of deaths. Airline flights account for 2% of accidents.
• Among accidents with a coded cause, Aircraft or equipment was the main factor in 48%, followed by pilot or crew (44%).
• Recorded accidents went from 2,298 in 1982 to 1,374 in 2025.

By phase of flight

By main cause (NTSB coding)

By type of operation

US states

Countries outside the US

Aircraft makes

Aircraft models

By year

By month

Deadliest accidents

1. Japan Air Lines Flight 123, Ueno (Aug 12, 1985) · 520 killed
2. 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision, Charkhi Dadri (Nov 12, 1996) · 349 killed
3. 1996 Air Africa Antonov An-32 crash, Kinshasa (Jan 8, 1996) · 298 killed
4. China Airlines Flight 140, Nagoya Airfield (Apr 26, 1994) · 264 killed
5. Nigeria Airways Flight 2120, King Abdulaziz International Airport (Jul 11, 1991) · 261 killed
6. Airbus Industrie A300B4-605R, Belle Harbor, NY (Nov 12, 2001) · 260 killed
7. Air India Flight 171, Ahmedabad (Jun 12, 2025) · 260 killed
8. Arrow Air Flight 1285R, Gander International Airport (Dec 12, 1985) · 256 killed
9. Garuda Indonesia Flight 152, Buah Nabar (Sep 26, 1997) · 234 killed
10. Boeing 747-131, East Moriches, NY (Jul 18, 1996) · 230 killed

Explore the map

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). US-heavy; the NTSB only codes phase and cause for accidents from 2008 on, so those tables leave out 1982–2007.