Aircraft Accident

Aircraft Safety - Flying is safer but accidents still happen

While rare compared to other types of motor-vehicle crashes, aircraft accidents do happen regularly, often with devastating results. Despite significant safety improvements over the past decades, many people each year experience the pain of losing someone in an airplane crash.

The good news is that aircraft safety has improved from better aircraft design, engineering and maintenance, the evolution of navigation aids, and better safety protocols and procedures. It is often reported that air travel is the safest in terms of deaths per passenger mile. The National Transportation Safety Board(link is external) reported that in 2006 there were 1.3 deaths per hundred million vehicle miles for travel by car, and 1.7 deaths per hundred million vehicle miles for travel by air.

What are common causes of aircraft crashes?

The most common aviation safety hazards are:

• foreign object debris;
• missing or misleading information to the pilot;
• lightening;
• ice and snow;
• engine and structural failures;
• stalling;
• fire.

Small-plane crashes - safety rates are not improving

Here at Accident Data Center we report daily about crashes involving small planes. While safety statistics(link is external) for large commercial planes have been improving steadily for decades, the accident rate in personal flights has increased by 20% in the past decade, and the fatality rate for personal flights is up 25%.

Of course, In raw numbers, the deadliest transportation for Americans is the family car. Each year, more than 30,000 people die in traffic accidents(link is external), compared to the 400 or so who are killed in general aviation accidents.

Why private planes crash

The majority of general aviation accidents are caused by pilot error, according to NTSB statistics. Compared to commercial flights, private aircraft lack safety features, co-pilots, backup systems for navigation information, and extra engines. 

What should you do if a loved one is injured or killed in a plane crash?

After an aircraft crash injures or kills someone, it is important to get help immediately to gain access to information, to learn about the investigation, and find out what you need to do to help the victims or their loved ones left behind. Finding an experienced aviation crash attorney is essential.