Mixed Results

Accidents involving Western-built commercial jets worldwide decreased 17 percent in 2012 — 30 crashes (Table 1) compared with 36 recorded in 2011 — but the 281 on-board fatalities recorded in 2012 represented a 61 percent increase, according to data from Boeing Commercial Airplanes.^1,2

In its annual Statistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, published in August, Boeing’s data showed that five of the 30 accidents involved fatalities. Of these, two crashes resulted in on-board and external fatalities and one crash killed everyone in the airplane and no one on the ground. In two other crashes, everyone in the airplane survived, but fatalities were recorded on the ground.

Four of the five fatal crashes were classified as major accidents, which Boeing defines as an accident that meets any one of three conditions: “The airplane was destroyed, or there were multiple fatalities, or there was one fatality and the airplane was substantially damaged.”

In a broader time frame, the data showed that there were 407 accidents, including 75 fatal accidents, from 2003 through 2012 (Table 2). In comparison, the report released by Boeing in 2012 showed that 404 accidents, including 79 fatal accidents, had occurred from 2002 through 2011. On-board fatalities numbered 4,269 during the 2003–2012 period and 4,547 from 2002 through 2011.

The data also showed 173 hull loss accidents from 2003 through 2012, compared with 181 in the 2002–2011 period. Boeing defines a hull loss as an airplane that is “totally destroyed or damaged and not repaired.”³

Since Boeing began compiling data in 1959, it has recorded 1,828 accidents, including 608 fatal accidents (33 percent of the total) and 935 hull loss accidents (Figure 1). Of these, 717 accidents, including 26 fatal accidents, have resulted in substantial damage to airplanes.⁴

Using the standardized taxonomy developed by the U.S. Commercial Aviation Safety Team/International Civil Aviation Organization (CAST/ICAO),⁵ Boeing data showed that loss of control–in flight (LOC-I) was the most frequent cause of accidents and fatalities in 2003–2012 (Figure 2).

Eighteen of the 75 accidents recorded in 2003–2012 (24 percent) were classified as LOC-I accidents; these 18 accidents killed 1,648 people inside the airplanes — 39 percent of the total 4,269 on-board fatalities — and 50 people on the ground — 36 percent of the total 139 external fatalities. In comparison, the 18 LOC-I accidents recorded in 2002–2011 accounted for 23 percent of the 79 total accidents, 33 percent of the 4,547 total on-board fatalities and 37 percent of the 214 total external fatalities.

Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accounted for 17 accidents during the 10-year period from 2003–2012, along with 971 on-board fatalities (23 percent) and one external fatality (0.7 percent). During the previous 10-year period, there were 18 CFIT accidents, with 1,078 on-board fatalities (24 percent).

Runway excursions (landing) — a category that includes abnormal runway contact and undershoot/overshoot — accounted for 16 accidents (21 percent) in 2003–2012, one more than during the previous 10-year period. These accidents accounted for 765 on-board fatalities in each 10-year stretch.

Other segments of the report calculate that Western-built commercial jets worldwide have flown 635 million departures, and 1.148 million flight hours since 1959, including 24.4 million departures and 52.8 million flight hours in 2012. The accident rate, for 212 million departures during 2003–2012, was 0.82 per million departures; the fatal accident rate for the same period was 0.35 per million departures.⁶

Notes

1. Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Statistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents: Worldwide Operations 1959–2012. August 2013. <www.boeing.com/news/techissues/pdf/statsum.pdf>.
2. The data include commercial jet airplanes heavier than 60,000 lb (27,217 kg) maximum gross weight. Airplanes manufactured in the Soviet Union or the Commonwealth of Independent States are excluded because of insufficient operational data. Commercial airplanes operated in military service also are excluded.For purposes of this report, Boeing defines an accident as “an occurrence associated with the operation of an airplane that takes place between the time any person boards the airplane with the intention of flight and such time as all such persons have disembarked, in which the airplane sustains substantial damage, or the airplane is missing or is completely inaccessible, or death or serious injury results from being in the airplane, or direct contact with the airplane or anything attached thereto, or direct exposure to jet blast.” Occurrences involving experimental test flights or hostile actions, such as sabotage or hijacking, are not included.
3. According to Boeing’s definition, a hull loss includes events in which “the airplane is missing, or the search for the wreckage has been terminated without it being located, or the airplane is completely inaccessible.”
4. Boeing defines substantial damage as “damage or failure which adversely affects the structural strength, performance or flight characteristics of the airplane, and which would normally require major repair or replacement of the affected component.” If an airplane can be flown to a repair base within 48 hours of an accident, Boeing does not consider the damage to have been substantial.
5. The CAST/ICAO taxonomy is described in detail at <www.intlaviationstandards.org>.
6. Flights include scheduled commercial passenger and cargo operations, charter passenger and cargo operations, maintenance test, ferry, positioning, training, and demonstration flights.