LOC-I Accidents Led Other Categories, Data Show

More accidents involving the worldwide commercial jet airplane fleet from 2008 through 2017 were classified as loss of control accidents than any other category, according to data from Boeing Commercial Airplanes (Figure 1).

Data showed that loss of control–in flight (LOC-I) accidents totaled 14 over the 10-year period, followed by accidents classified as controlled flight into terrain (13) and runway excursion on landing (8).

Onboard fatalities followed a similar pattern, with 1,129 fatalities in LOC-I accidents, 600 fatalities in controlled flight into terrain accidents and 201 fatalities in runway excursion landing accidents.

The data were contained in Boeing’s annual Statistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, made public in early October. The document includes accidents involving commercial jet airplanes weighing more than 60,000 lb (27,216 kg) but excludes those manufactured in the Commonwealth of Independent States or the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics because of the lack of operational data, as well as commercial airplanes that are operated in military service.

More fatal accidents and more onboard fatalities from 2008 through 2017 occurred during final approach (27 percent of all fatal accidents and 32 percent of all onboard fatalities) than during any other phase of flight, the report said (Figure 2). The landing phase accounted for 22 percent of fatal accidents and 12 percent of onboard fatalities, and the cruise phase, for 11 percent of fatal accidents and 23 percent of fatalities, the report said.

In 2017, aircraft from the worldwide commercial jet airplane fleet were involved in 40 accidents, including one accident that killed all four people in the airplane and 35 people on the ground, and two others that each killed a single bystander (Table 1).

The accident that resulted in onboard fatalities was the Jan. 16 crash in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan of an ACT Airlines Boeing 747-400 on a scheduled cargo flight. The accident occurred when the 747 overflew the runway during a precision approach and crashed into a nearby residential area.

The four resulting fatalities were equivalent to about 1.4 percent of the average of 283 people killed each year over the previous 10-year period from 2007 through 2016.

Of the 40 crashes in 2017, seven involved airplanes that were classified as hull losses — defined by Boeing as accidents in which an airplane is “totally destroyed or damaged and not repaired.” A hull loss also includes events in which an airplane is missing or “completely inaccessible,” according to the definition.

Three of the 40 accidents were classified as major accidents — defined as accidents in which the airplane was destroyed, or there were multiple fatalities, or there was one fatality and the airplane was substantially damaged.

The three accidents were the Bishkek crash; a March 28 runway excursion and fire involving a Peruvian Airlines 737-300 landing in Jauja, Peru; and a July 18 landing accident involving a Tri M.G. Airlines 737-300 cargo flight in Wamena, Indonesia.

In comparison, Boeing data for 2016 showed a total of 30 accidents, including 13 hull losses, seven major accidents, and four fatal accidents with a total of 138 onboard fatalities and one external fatality.

Overall, the accident rate for commercial jets for the 10-year period from 2008 through 2017 was 0.44 per million departures, and the fatal accident rate was 0.16 per million departures (Figure 3). When other operations — charter passenger and cargo, scheduled cargo, maintenance test, ferry, positioning, training and demonstration flights — were included, the total accident rate was 0.57 per million departures and the fatal accident rate, 0.22 per million departures.

Data showed 387 accidents occurred during the 10-year period, including 37 fatal accidents with 2,261 onboard fatalities and an additional 125 fatalities involving people not aboard the accident airplanes (Table 2), the report said. Since Boeing began keeping records in 1959, the company has recorded 1,989 accidents, including 626 fatal accidents with 29,788 onboard fatalities and 1,254 external fatalities.

Of the 387 accidents recorded from 2008 through 2017, 55 accidents (14 percent of the total) were fatal, the report said (Figure 4). Data showed that of the 55 fatal accidents, 46 were also classified as hull loss accidents, two were classified as resulting in substantial damage to the airplane, and seven were classified as resulting in no substantial damage.

Figure 5 traces the accident rates through the nearly 50 years since Boeing’s record keeping began, with high rates in the early years, followed by a relatively steady decline.