How many airplanes crash a year

Some fliers take lots of short flights and some take longer ones, for example. Since the overwhelming majority of the few plane crashes that do occur take place in connection with takeoffs and landings, the risk is less a matter of how far you fly and more a matter of how often.

If you're a frequent flier, then the risk per flight means more. For occasional long-distance fliers, the risk per mile means more. A frequent, long-distance flier would want to consider both. Here's another number problem with the risk of flying: do you calculate the risk on the basis of one year, or an average of five years, or 10, or 20? Most years no plane crashes occur, or at least very few.

So the number of victims per year goes up radically in years when there are crashes. Just look at the spikes in the number of deaths from plane crashes by year in the graph at right. So to calculate the risk per year can be misleading.

One really bad year would skew the numbers toward the more frightening. A year with no crashes makes it look like it's zero.

But if you average things over, say, five years, or 10, some other factors muddy the waters. In the last five years safety factors have changed. Advanced weather radar has been installed near major airports, and new FAA rules have gone into effect.

A year average might be misleading too. It would include the aberration of September 11, Despite all these caveats, numbers are a great way to put risk in general perspective, and there is no question that by most metrics, flying is a less risky way to travel than most others. In addition, backup systems in every plane provide for safety during emergencies that would have been fatal just decades ago.

See our breakdown of courses for the fear of flying to learn more about airline safety. Notes: The figures above represent Part Air Carriers, which are major airline operators who operate on scheduled flights and monitored airspace.

Part carriers, which include unscheduled private and medical aircraft flights, are not included. Pipelines tracked by the NTSB as a transportation mode transporting natural gas and hazardous liquids accounted for 20 deaths. Source: National Transportation Safety Board. Air Travel Industry. Dean, Kerry M. Study sponsored by Boeing Commercial Airplane Company. Our goal is simple: provide you the most complete information you can about your upcoming travels, purchases, and more.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. I have always had extremely bad anxiety about flying. I never thought I would fly as long as I lived. I started dating my boyfriend still, but at the time I knew he traveled a lot.

I was so scared to fly! I ended up flying out to see him and alone at that! Well I got there and since I flew about 6 other times with him. I have these pilots in control on me and my life! The global aviation industry's safest year on record was There were no fatal passenger jet crashes that year, and only two fatal accidents involving regional turboprops that resulted in 13 deaths.

Iran to pay compensation for victims of downed jet. Pakistan plane crash was 'human error'. Image source, Reuters. The number of flights in has fallen due to the coronavirus pandemic, grounding planes worldwide. Airlines investigated over lockdown refund cases Airport 'could take years to recover'.