Questions tagged [accident-statistics]

Questions about statistics regarding aircraft accidents should be fact-based; questions asking for opinions are off-topic.

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2 answers
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Statistics: is being a crew on airliners overall roughly as dangerous as driving daily?

The question says it all. It's a commonplace that "airliner travel" for passengers is far and away the safest travel, on almost any metric (per mile, hour, per human-year, etc). However, I'...
13 votes
2 answers
4k views

What is the longest time after which plane crash survivors were rescued?

I found: Aviator Bob Gauchie retains the record for solo arctic survival by a downed airman, enduring 58 days of arctic weather before his rescue in Canada 1967. After 72 days on the glacier, 16 of ...
8 votes
3 answers
510 views

What is the most common reason to deploy a parachute?

On aircraft equipped with parachute, What is the most common reason to deploy a parachute? Is it engine failure, loss of control, disorientation, out of fuel, etc. or something else? ...
9 votes
2 answers
4k views

Are glider pilots who are 14 or 15 years old more dangerous than those who are 16 when soloing?

With a student pilot certificate and an endorsement, it is legal to solo a glider at 14 years of age. When I was 14, I would have probably thought I was old enough to solo a glider, but looking back (...
1 vote
2 answers
259 views

How much wind will rip an aircraft apart?

I would like to know how to calculate how much wind would be required to rip any particular aircraft type apart. In the case of N3079M, (video breakdown here), it took some severe storms (estimated 40 ...
8 votes
2 answers
3k views

Which fighter jet is the safest outside of combat?

I've heard that the Bloodhound SSC project decided to use a Eurofighter engine, because this was "safe". This got me wondering if there are any numbers on which fighter jets are safest. Something like ...
0 votes
2 answers
208 views

Is it safer to fly over 3,000ft for General Aviation?

I have been reading over the UK Airprox annual report of 2021 and it states: In 2021 – 76% of all events and 83% of all aircraft-to-aircraft events took place at or below 3000ft altitude. In 2021 – ...
0 votes
1 answer
79 views

What are some categories of accidents other than takeoff and landing?

From the FAA Remote Pilot study guide, but apparently referring to manned aircraft accidents: "...the vast majority of these accidents occur during landing (24.1 percent) and takeoff (23.4 ...
1 vote
0 answers
58 views

Is there a way to access Flight Data Recorder information for major incidents? [duplicate]

I am working on a school project where I am hoping to use by-second data from flight 1549 (miracle on the hudson). Is there a way/place to acquire flight data recorder information for these major ...
3 votes
1 answer
967 views

When was the last commercial hot air balloon fatality in the UK?

When was the last commercial hot air balloon fatality in the UK?
10 votes
3 answers
11k views

Are there any data on the safety rate of gliders vs single-engine GA aircraft?

Can anyone point me to statistics on the safety record of gliders vs. single engine general aviation aircraft?
10 votes
2 answers
746 views

How often do talk-down landings go wrong?

There are some well documented stories of non-pilots successfully landing airplanes after the pilot was incapacitated. Usually this involves radio assistance by ATC and/or flight instructors. My ...
4 votes
1 answer
520 views

How many Harriers crashed at or near MCAS Cherry Point?

When I was stationed at MCAS Cherry Point in the late 1970's, we had a Harrier flip over and crash while practicing at the hover pad. It took off in the direction of our large hangar and thankfully ...
20 votes
3 answers
6k views

Is landing gear-up against the regs?

Typically, landing a plane gear-up results in costly damage, which easily triggers the NTSB reporting requirement. However, as a glider pilot I can easily see how landing a glider gear-up would cause ...
15 votes
4 answers
5k views

Are more fatalities in commercial aircraft accidents caused by pilot error than by automated features?

This claim struck me: Overall these automated features are an overall benefit to everybody. They are preventing some of the more classic aviation disasters that pilots can induce into these aircraft. ...
7 votes
2 answers
3k views

How much more dangerous is it to fly in Mexico than Europe?

Recently, Mexico's air safety rating was downgraded. How much more dangerous (in terms of statistical chances of fatal accident) is it to travel with a Mexican airline, than a European one?
2 votes
1 answer
440 views

Have there been any fatal accidents involving a transatlantic flight since AF447?

I'm trying to confirm there has been no commercial airline transatlantic flight accident (with fatalities) since AF447 in 2009. This would include any flight that crossed the Atlantic ocean, even if ...
3 votes
2 answers
491 views

Has there ever been a two engine Air Carrier where both engines failed during the takeoff run resulting in an accident?

Has there ever been a two engine Air Carrier anywhere that has had both engines fail at some point during the takeoff run that resulted in an accident?
6 votes
4 answers
1k views

Are there statistics showing the relationship between safety and the age of aircraft?

Some people seem to believe that some airplanes are less safe to fly just because they are older than others. As a pilot myself who has learned that the safety of aircraft is nothing to do with their ...
6 votes
1 answer
945 views

What are the statistical probabilities of commercial aircraft accidents?

Is there any study showing how probabilities of various kinds of aviation (e.g. crash-landings, fatal crashes, mid-air collisions) accidents have increased or reduced over time?
26 votes
2 answers
6k views

Has any airliner ever collided with a glider?

I've read about many near-collisions between gliders and airliners, but did such a collision ever happen in mid-air, actually?
3 votes
3 answers
1k views

How safe are extreme aerobatic flights?

Statistically, how safe are extreme aerobatics flights like this one?
-1 votes
1 answer
497 views

Has any commercial airliner ever flown inverted? [duplicate]

Has any commercial airliner ever flown inverted, either intentionally (extremely unlikely) or during an upset?
1 vote
2 answers
472 views

What plane cost less per mile to operate for one person? [closed]

The 98 Toyota Corolla has a strong history for being a low maintenance, fuel efficient and cheap car. 400k mile reliability if driven with respect and preventative maintenance. What plane has these ...
3 votes
3 answers
4k views

Which is safer? The Piper Tomahawk or the Cessna 152?

I have booked my first flying lesson for 2 weeks time, in my first step to obtain a PPL or LAPL. I had done all of my research on the Cessna family, assuming that is what I would learn in. I was ...
3 votes
1 answer
176 views

How is an air accident's probable cause determined?

I constantly hear that air accidents are caused by a range of shortcomings. However, most accident reports declare a main "probable cause". You can see below a bar-chart with the causes of fatal ...
0 votes
1 answer
71 views

Aviation Statistics Sources [closed]

Are there any online, publicly available sources of aviation statistics, like: number of manufactured aircrafts by type and year number of registered aircrafts by type and year number of aircraft ...
7 votes
6 answers
5k views

Has a commercial jet airliner ever stalled on takeoff / at low-altitude?

In general aviation, a common reason for fatalities is low altitude stalls on takeoff or practising go-arounds. Has there ever been an incident where a commercial jet airliner stalled on takeoff / ...
23 votes
8 answers
15k views

Where is the safest seat in the plane?

If I'm going on holiday with my family on an airliner such as one of the ones listed on this page, then where is the safest place to sit? The answers to this question seem to imply that the seats at ...
9 votes
3 answers
2k views

Are there more accidents in winter months, and if so, why?

I was watching The Flight Channel videos and have noticed that the accidents seem to happen more often in winter months (for the Northern Hemisphere). Are there some statistics to back this claim? It ...
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is the September 11th the only time a plane was crashed into skyscrapers?

I wonder if there has been other plane crashes with skyscrapers in history, except the one of the World Trade Center.
-4 votes
3 answers
338 views

Is this safety ranking of different aviation methods accurate? [closed]

I'm compiling a list of essentially "Different ways a human can fly" and then ranking them in order of safest to most dangerous. This is my final list, is it statistically (and practically) accurate? ...
29 votes
3 answers
7k views

Are grass strips more dangerous than tarmac?

There are a couple of flight schools near me. One is at a large airport, they use Piper Tomahawks primarily to teach. Naturally, they use well maintained, tarmac runways to takeoff and land. This ...
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Will dual-learning in a glider make my airplane learning safer?

This question got me thinking, would attending gliding lessons at the same time as my airplane training make me safer in a small plane or microlight?
0 votes
2 answers
699 views

How was this airline (statistically) never had a fatal incident? [closed]

Ryanair make around 725,044 flights per year. This They have been operating for 35 years, so have accrued around 25,376,540 flights. They have also never had any fatal incidents or even major ...
2 votes
0 answers
216 views

Why was there an increase in the number of airline accidents in 90s? [closed]

According to this Aviation Safety Network article and dataset there was a significant drop in the number of airline accidents in the early 80s comparing to the years before - from ~50 per year down to ...
3 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is the relative safety record of the Sukhoi Superjet 100?

After the last crash, numerous articles state that the Superjet has a poor safety record. Two fatal crashes in 8 years is not a lot, but then again, only around 150 planes have been delivered. Does ...
-3 votes
1 answer
268 views

Is there a correlation between airport capacity and accident rates?

This question about the new Heathrow runway increasing flights per day by 700 mentions that this airport (and many others around the world) runs at over 98% capacity. This got me thinking, is there a ...
4 votes
2 answers
8k views

How safe is the Beechcraft 1900?

While reading the tragic Accidents and incidents section of this Wikipedia page, I began to wonder how the Beechcraft 1900 ranks for safety. The page describes 22 known severe accidents and incidents ...
0 votes
1 answer
641 views

How to increase your chances of survival in a plane crash? [closed]

More than 90% of plane crashes in recent years had survivors. In America, for example, there were 568 plane crashes between 1983 - 2000: Out of the collective 53487 people onboard, 51207 ...
0 votes
1 answer
702 views

What are the differences between the two main brace positions? [duplicate]

Why are there two different brace positions (pictured below) ? (If there is a difference between the official and true reason, please state both. In many planes the reduced seating spacing does not ...
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Has turbulence ever killed a passenger?

The question is on my mind, because many passengers think there is no need to wear the seatbelt when the seatbelt sign is not illuminated.
0 votes
2 answers
1k views

What's the exact moment were the spoilers are supposed to be deployed on a A320?

Are they deployed when the levers are pulled back to 'IDLE' or only when pulled back to 'Reverse'? I still can't figure out, 12 years after, why flight TAM JJ3054 crashed into a gas station and a ...
1 vote
1 answer
3k views

Are turboprops less safe then jets?

On a recent trip to an airport, I noticed a large number of Bombardier Dash 8s. I wanted to know - are turboprops less safe than traditional jets like the 737 or A320? For instance, I would imagine ...
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

How does the safety record of a Cessna 152 compare to a jetliner in Europe?

I have a fear of flight and I'm working on it. There is an airfield about 40 minutes from me and they offer flying lessons in a Cessna-152 for around 140 euros per hour. Pretty reasonable I think. So,...
2 votes
1 answer
128 views

Did turbofan engine explosions become more frequent in last years in commercial aviation?

There are many incidents with turbofan engine failures during last years. I can list: 2010-11-04 - Qantas_Flight_32 2015-09-08 - British Airways Flight 2276 2016-05-27 - Korean Air Flight 2708 2016-...
12 votes
1 answer
3k views

Has a micro-burst or wind shear caused fatalities on takeoff?

Delta Flight 191 at Dallas-Fort Worth (1985), TANS Perú Flight 204 in Peru (2005), FedEx Express Flight 80 in Japan (2009), and Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 at New York's JFK, are all examples of ...
0 votes
4 answers
376 views

What should I expect to happen when I get on a skydiving flight

I am schedule to go on a short flight (skydive)* on a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan during an international visit to some friends. I found the serial number of the flight, here is it's record. Since ...
1 vote
3 answers
816 views

Are there any safety data on the aircraft used for skydiving?

I am planning a (first) skydive, a tandem jump with an instructor. However, I have not picked which school I will use yet. I am convinced about the safety of the jump itself, but cannot find reliable ...
25 votes
5 answers
4k views

Why are accident rates higher on smaller aircraft?

This question was raised as part of this discussion. Why are accident rates higher on smaller aircraft? It seems the safety record of military, private and small commuter planes is much less safe ...