The year 2024 recorded exceptionally low numbers of accidents despite the 5 billion passengers that traveled across the worldwide aviation industry throughout 40 million flights. The data reinforces flying as one of the safest forms of public transportation, demonstrated by the year’s safety performance.
By examining the aviation safety data and trends over the year, the 2024 Safety Report from the International Air Transport Association
( IATA
) offers valuable insights into both the year’s successes and the areas where attention is most valuable for progress.
Here’s a brief overview of the ten key points of safety performance and emerging risk factors:
The accident rate is near a historic low: 1.13 accidents per million flights with long-term improvement despite a slight rise over 2023.
Fatal accidents and fatalities rose: Seven fatal crashes caused 244 onboard deaths in a sharp increase from the previous year’s figures.
Conflict zone risks: Two aircraft crashed due to deadly, targeted attacks.
GPS interference surge: A sharp rise in GPS/GNSS signal interference incidents raised new concerns about navigation safety and requires urgent attention.
Human factors are critical: Pilot handling, unstable approaches, and SOP violations were the leading contributors to accidents, highlighting human factors challenges.
Most common accident types: Tail strikes and runway excursions topped the list of incident types while no controlled-flight-into-terrain (CFIT) accidents occurred.
IOSA-audited airlines outperformed others: Airlines on the IATA Operational Safety Audit registry (IATA members) had a lower accident rate than non-IOSA carriers.
Delayed investigations are a concern: only about 57% of accident investigations from 2018 to 2023 were completed and published as required, hindering safety improvements.
Regional disparities in safety: Accident rates varied widely by region – Africa had the highest, but North America and the Middle East/North Africa showed improvement.
Continuous safety improvements: Industry initiatives, from safety management systems to regional programs, strengthen safety and target remaining risk areas.
10
Accident rate near historic low despite slight 2024 increase
Baseline long-term safety trends provide context for the year’s safety data.
The overall number of accidents has drastically decreased in the last 20 years. In 2005, there were 3.72 accidents per one-million flights, about three times more than in 2024. The ongoing industry efforts to improve safety culture, management and controls as well as technology and training are illustrated by the long-term improvement that IATA’s analysis
reveals.
Photo: NTSB
The worldwide accident rate was recorded at 1.13 per one-million flights last year, which equates to roughly one accident in 880,000 flights, as reported by IATA. This represents a slight increase from 2023’s record low of 1.09 accidents per one-million flights, however, still beats the rate of 1.25 over the five-year average.
A decade ago, the accident rate was much higher at one in every 456,000 flights. Now, the five-year rolling average is down to one in 810,000. This consistent decline is the best evidence to show how commercial aviation has grown safer and safer with time.
9
Fatal accidents and fatalities spike
Terrible human cost, a major setback in fatalities.
The risk of fatalities to passengers is very low today, with the risk at around 0.06 per one-million flights. To make this number practical, it means that one passenger would need to ride along on tens-of-thousands of flights before a fatal incident would occur.
Photo: NTSB
The year 2024 had a higher number of fatal accidents than in 2023, which saw only one deadly crash. The seven deadly incidents in 2024 resulted in a total of 244 on-board fatalities, which is much more than the 72 that lost their lives in 2023.
8
Conflict zones threaten the peaceful skies
Defense and security risks pose an external threat that requires international cooperation.
Two catastrophic events in 2024 showed that Aviation Safety
is vulnerable and directly endangered by geopolitical conflicts around the world. Two civilian aircraft were targeted in 2024: one in Sudan which led to the loss of five lives and one in Kazakhstan that claimed 38 souls.
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Despite the significant danger to civil aviation, these incidents are not included in official accident statistics since they were classified as acts of conflict.
IATA initiatives, like the international Safer Skies program, aim to exchange threat and risk information among civilian organizations to protect flights around high-risk areas. The Director General of IATA pleaded with international governments to improve intelligence sharing and set up more transparent procedures.
7
GPS interference poses navigation danger
Emerging technological hazards illustrate the need for action.
Safety data shows an increase in Global Positioning Systems ( GPS
) (also called Global Navigation Satellite Systems, or GNSS) interference incidents that directly affected aircraft navigation. In 2024, the reports of such interference surged by 175%.
Photo: NTSB
Deliberate “spoofing”—where false signals are transmitted to misdirect planes—increased by 500% in the same time period. The hotspots from which the most frequent reports came were Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt.
IATA calls for urgent action by authorities and navigation service providers to curb jamming and spoofing.
6
Human factors and SOP violations still leading issues
Human factors and organizational factors were indicated to be recurring sources of accidents.
Manual handling & flight control errors: Contributed to 39% of accidents.
Non-compliance with procedures: Deviations from SOP were noted in 35% of accidents.
Situational awareness lapses: Poor crew situational awareness contributed to ~37% of accidents.
Unstable approaches: Continuing after an unstable approach was a factor in 26% of accidents.
Pilot performance and their decisions are key elements in any mishap investigation. According to 2024 reports, flight crew errors and actions were frequently to blame for accidents.
In an investigation, the human factors are often found to have a snowballing effect. For instance, an unsteady approach initiated a sequence of poor control inputs, which led to inappropriate aircraft handling, finally resulting in a mishap like a tail strike.
5
Tail strikes and runway excursions are the most common accidents
Most frequent incidents inform where preventive efforts should focus.
Tail Strike incidents: 12 in 2024, the most frequent kind of accident.
Runway Excursions: 10 in 2024, the second most frequent accident category.
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT): no CFIT accidents were recorded.
When an airplane’s tail touches the runway during takeoff or landing, that is known as a tail strike. An aircraft veering off or overruning a runway is what is known as a runway excursion.
This type of accident is usually low severity and results in minor damage. Typically, there are little to no injuries in cases like these. They do, however, serve as an indicator of operational safety.
To reduce these instances, increased aircrew training and upgrades to ground safety equipment are good remedies. The absence of any CFIT mishaps is a remarkable achievement as it is one of the deadliest accident categories in flying.
4
IOSA-audited airlines significantly lower accident rates
The impact of global safety standards and audits was made apparent in real-world results.
On average, all IATA member carriers that participate in IATA’s Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) program had much fewer accidents than those that are not listed on the IOSA registry. IOSA-registered airlines experienced 0.92 accidents per million flights in 2024, whereas non-IOSA carriers saw 1.70 accidents per million flights.
Photo: IATA
Airlines that are not affiliated with IOSA had nearly double the rate of accidents.
IATA membership comes with a requirement for biennial IOSA safety assessments. These cover hundreds of operational criteria. The glaring safety gap demonstrates how beneficial IOSA audits are to airlines.
IATA member airlines collectively improved their safety performance in 2024, with a slightly lower accident rate than in 2023 even as the global average was higher in 2024.
3
Delayed accident investigations impede safety improvements
Timely investigations are a preventable weakness in the safety system.
Globally, there was a troubling lapse in the completion of accident investigations. Approximately 57% of airplane accident investigations were finished and published between 2018 and 2023.
Photo: IATA
Nearly half of recent serious accidents do not yield timely public reports, depriving the industry of important safety lessons. There is also a wide regional disparity – Asia has completed about 75%.
IATA denounced the practice of “burying” accident records, whether it is due to a lack of investigative resources or political sensitivities – either is unacceptable.
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2
Regional differences in safety performance
Regional data can reveal where safety improvements are lagging or succeeding.
According to data from 2024, regional differences in safety performance were significant. Africa had the greatest accident rate, with almost 10.6 accidents per million flights, up from 8.4 the previous year. These were the most alarming statistics.
Photo: IATA
North America and the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) have achieved zero death risk and increased their safety rates to roughly 1.1 incidents per million flights.
Between 2023 and 2024, Latin America and the Caribbean region’s accident rate more than doubled from 0.73 to 1.77 as the mortality risk also rose to 0.35.
Accident rates in Europe and Asia-Pacific remained close to their respective five-year norms, with a minor uptick. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which is made up of countries from the former Soviet Bloc, reported no mishaps and very little other data.
Photo: IATA
These regional disparities highlight that while aviation is very safe globally, certain areas – especially particular zones of Africa and Latin America – face higher risk.
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1
Ongoing initiatives continue to strengthen aviation safety
Aviation safety is a continuous effort, and safety culture drives improvement.
A major factor in lowering the accident rate has been advancements in safety management, technology, and training. As air traffic increases, the aviation community will continue to be alert and creative in its pursuit of the ultimate objective of zero accidents thanks to this proactive strategy.
Photo: IATA
IATA’s Focus Africa partnership, through the Collaborative Aviation Safety Improvement Program, has channeled resources to tackle the specific issues contributing to Africa’s higher accident rate.
New technology and growing data exchange help reduce hazards before they cause mishaps. Records show that airlines committed to strict safety management systems, training, and oversight have strengthened the industry’s overall safety culture.
Behind the statistics are concerted industry initiatives and safety programs driving continuous improvement. Airlines worldwide are actively using data and collaboration to address risk and improve safety.
