Aviation Crash Map

Statistics

Everything on this page is counted straight from the 181,007 records in this database. It covers what the NTSB investigated, which is mostly United States civil aviation, so it is not a picture of world aviation safety. Read that limitation on the about the data page before drawing conclusions.

181,007
Records
31,218
Fatal
80,798
Recorded deaths
1948–2026
Period

Records per year

1948 to 2026

The tall years in the 1960s and 1970s are partly a reporting artefact: the early dataset counts a great many small general aviation events that later years record differently. The numbers are what the NTSB recorded, not a like-for-like comparison across decades.

By decade

Of the completed decades, the 1940s had the highest share of fatal accidents (100% of 1 records), and the 1960s the lowest (11.5% of 33,578 records). The current decade is left out of that comparison because it is not finished.

Decade Records Fatal Share fatal Deaths
1940s 1 1 100% 2
1960s 33,578 3,851 11.5% 9,956
1970s 45,626 7,349 16.1% 17,938
1980s 32,151 5,874 18.3% 13,266
1990s 22,661 4,459 19.7% 11,870
2000s 19,698 4,098 20.8% 13,463
2010s 16,751 3,638 21.7% 9,930
2020s (in progress) 10,541 1,948 18.5% 4,373

Most common aircraft types

All types
Cessna 172 12,209
Cessna 150 10,427
Piper PA-28 9,402
Cessna 182 6,261
Piper PA-22 3,095
Cessna 152 3,030
Piper PA-18 2,950
Cessna 180 2,729
Piper PA-24 2,700
Cessna 210 2,022
Cessna 170 1,985
Piper PA-25 1,925

These are the types that appear most often, which mostly reflects how many of them are flying and how many hours they fly. It is not a safety ranking.

Most common countries

All countries
United States 170,864
Mexico 939
Canada 658
Brazil 537
Australia 469
United Kingdom 445
France 285
Germany 276
Colombia 259
Bahamas 248
Other-Foreign Countries 247
Unknown/Not Reported 211

The NTSB investigates United States civil aviation, so the United States dominates by definition. Other countries appear when a US-registered or US-built aircraft was involved.

Phase of flight

Landing 45.6%
In Flight 29.9%
Takeoff 18.2%
Taxi 4.6%
Static 1.1%
Unknown/Not Reported 0.7%

Aircraft class

Airplane 45.1%
Fixed-Wing 44.8%
Helicopter 7.6%
Glider 1.4%
Balloon 0.5%
Gyrocraft 0.2%
Gyroplane 0.2%
Ultralight 0.2%

Every year in numbers

Year Records Fatal Deaths
2026 864 149 331
2025 1,633 274 589
2024 1,667 289 760
2023 1,653 295 542
2022 1,686 329 731
2021 1,643 321 650
2020 1,395 291 770
2019 1,624 380 966
2018 1,686 360 1,047
2017 1,635 338 640
2016 1,662 341 822
2015 1,581 365 1,103
2014 1,534 360 1,192
2013 1,561 344 823
2012 1,834 389 1,036
2011 1,848 398 931
2010 1,786 363 1,370
2009 1,783 359 1,184
2008 1,892 382 1,201
2007 1,985 387 1,292
2006 1,827 409 1,313
2005 2,001 428 1,627
2004 1,930 418 959
2003 2,063 441 1,342
2002 2,001 418 1,298
2001 2,032 413 1,546
2000 2,184 443 1,701
1999 2,175 404 1,193
1998 2,195 422 1,276
1997 2,121 402 1,260
1996 2,150 421 2,110
1995 2,281 456 1,140
1994 2,229 444 1,070
1993 2,283 436 821
1992 2,328 494 1,072
1991 2,419 481 994
1990 2,480 499 934
1989 2,502 484 1,485
1988 2,685 502 1,163
1987 2,774 496 1,195
1986 2,831 507 1,009
1985 3,055 555 1,598
1984 3,405 617 1,176
1983 3,514 651 1,237
1982 3,545 637 1,501
1981 3,878 724 1,449
1980 3,962 701 1,453
1979 4,210 713 1,782
1978 4,698 836 1,981
1977 4,469 739 2,719
1976 4,367 737 1,467
1975 4,463 708 1,552
1974 4,628 766 1,948
1973 4,451 754 1,702
1972 4,478 724 1,623
1971 4,882 696 1,646
1970 4,980 676 1,518
1969 5,082 681 1,710
1968 5,267 751 1,826
1967 6,392 656 1,686
1966 5,966 601 1,355
1965 5,428 585 1,363
1964 5,293 552 1,422
1963 78 14 264
1962 72 11 330
1948 1 1 2