Statistical Analysis of Commercial Aviation Accidents 1958-2024, Airbus' Annual Comprehensive Review of Commercial Aviation Safety illuminates both progress and concern in the industry's safety environment.
The 2024 edition highlights important milestones. Commercial airline traffic has recovered completely with 34 million flights that matched the volume of 2019. However, this recovery was hidden by a noticeable increase in events compared to 2023. The previous year did not record fatal accidents, commercial aviation had only one hull loss, and 2024 witnessed four fatal accidents and 12 hull losses.
Despite the industry's long-term trends to steadily improve safety records over the past decades, the 2024 event highlights the important importance of rigorous research protocols, sharing safety information, investing in preventive strategies, and avoiding self-satisfaction.
The beginning of 2025 further escalated the need for ongoing vigilance. Three important events occurred. Some residents were seriously injured in a ground fire involving an A321 at a South Korean airport, a fatal collision between a CRJ-700 aircraft and a military helicopter near Washington, DC, USA, and a CRJ-900 that was destroyed after landing in Toronto, Canada.
These recent events demonstrate how much aviation safety metrics can shift and highlight the critical importance of ongoing efforts to enhance safety involving all participants in the industry.
For a detailed analysis of commercial aviation accidents and the safety benefits of technology introduced across generations of aircraft, please visit the Accident Statistics website. The platform allows users to interactively explore statistics over time and view four generations of commercial jets via an immersive 360° cockpit viewer.
