BTS | Table 2-9: U.S. Air Carrier (a) Safety Data

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Table 2-9: U.S. Air Carrier^a Safety Data

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	1960	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001^c	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
TOTAL fatalities	499	261	146	124	1	526	39	^b50	33	1	239	168	380	8	1	12	92	531	0	22	14	22	50
Total seriously injured persons	N	N	107	81	19	30	29	26	22	19	31	25	77	43	30	67	29	19	22	29	21	13	9
Total accidents	90	83	55	37	19	21	24	26	18	23	23	36	37	49	50	51	56	46	41	54	30	(R) 40	31
Fatal accidents	17	9	8	3	1	7	6	4	4	1	4	3	5	4	1	2	3	6	0	2	2	3	2
Aircraft-miles (millions)	1,130	1,536	2,685	2,478	2,924	3,631	4,948	4,825	5,039	5,249	5,478	5,654	5,873	6,697	6,737	7,101	7,524	7,294	7,193	7,280	7,930	(R) 8,166	8,269
Rates per 100 million aircraft-miles
Fatalities	44.159	16.992	5.438	5.004	0.034	14.486	0.788	1.036	0.655	0.019	4.363	2.971	6.470	0.119	0.015	0.169	1.223	7.280	0.000	0.302	0.177	(R) 0.269	0.605
Seriously injured persons	N	N	3.985	3.269	0.650	0.826	0.586	0.539	0.437	0.362	0.566	0.442	1.311	0.642	0.445	0.943	0.385	0.260	0.306	0.398	0.265	(R) 0.159	(R) 0.109
Total accidents	7.965	5.404	2.048	1.493	0.650	0.578	0.485	0.539	0.357	0.438	0.420	0.637	0.630	0.732	0.742	0.718	0.744	0.631	0.570	0.742	0.378	(R) 0.490	0.375
Total accidents, fatal	1.504	0.586	0.298	0.121	0.034	0.193	0.121	0.083	0.079	0.019	0.073	0.053	0.085	0.060	0.015	0.028	0.040	0.082	0.000	0.027	0.025	(R) 0.037	0.024
Aircraft departures (thousands)	N	N	N	N	5,479	6,307	8,092	7,815	7,881	8,073	8,238	8,457	8,229	10,318	10,980	11,309	11,468	10,955	10,508	10,433	11,023	(R) 11,130	11,410
Rates per 100,000 aircraft departures
Fatalities	N	N	N	N	0.018	8.340	0.482	0.640	0.419	0.012	2.901	1.986	4.618	0.078	0.009	0.106	0.802	4.847	0.000	0.211	0.127	(R) 0.198	0.438
Seriously injured persons	N	N	N	N	0.347	0.476	0.358	0.333	0.279	0.235	0.376	0.296	0.936	0.417	0.273	0.592	0.253	0.173	0.209	0.278	0.191	(R) 0.117	(R) 0.079
Total accidents	N	N	N	N	0.347	0.333	0.297	0.333	0.228	0.285	0.279	0.426	0.450	0.475	0.455	0.451	0.488	0.420	0.390	0.518	0.272	(R) 0.359	0.272
Total accidents, fatal	N	N	N	N	0.018	0.111	0.074	0.051	0.051	0.012	0.049	0.035	0.061	0.039	0.009	0.018	0.026	0.055	0.000	0.019	0.018	(R) 0.027	0.024
Flight hours (thousands)	N	4,691	6,470	5,607	7,067	8,710	12,150	11,781	12,360	12,706	13,124	13,505	13,746	15,838	16,817	17,555	18,299	17,814	17,290	17,468	18,883	(R) 19,390	19,560
Rates per 100,000 flight hours
Fatalities	N	5.564	2.257	2.212	0.014	6.039	0.321	0.424	0.267	0.008	1.821	1.244	2.764	0.051	0.006	0.068	0.503	2.981	0.000	0.126	0.074	(R) 0.113	0.256
Seriously injured persons	N	N	1.654	1.445	0.269	0.344	0.239	0.221	0.178	0.150	0.236	0.185	0.560	0.271	0.178	0.382	0.158	0.107	0.127	0.166	0.111	(R) 0.067	(R) 0.046
Total accidents	N	1.769	0.850	0.660	0.269	0.241	0.198	0.221	0.146	0.181	0.175	0.267	0.269	0.309	0.297	0.291	0.306	0.258	0.237	0.309	0.159	(R) 0.206	0.158
Total accidents, fatal	N	0.192	0.124	0.054	0.014	0.080	0.049	0.034	0.032	0.007	0.030	0.022	0.036	0.025	0.006	0.011	0.016	0.034	0.000	0.011	0.011	(R) 0.015	0.010

KEY: N = data do not exist; R = revised.

^aAir carriers operating under 14 CFR 121, scheduled and nonscheduled service. Includes all scheduled and nonscheduled service accidents involving all-cargo carriers and commercial operators of large aircraft when those accidents occurred during 14 CFR 121 operations. Since Mar. 20, 1997, 14 CFR 121 includes aircraft with 10 or more seats formerly operated under 14 CFR 135. This change makes it difficult to compare pre-1997 data for 14 CFR 121 and 14 CFR 135 with more recent data.

^b Does not include the 12 persons killed aboard a SkyWest commuter aircraft when it and a U.S. Air aircraft collided.

^c Other than the persons aboard the aircraft who were killed, fatalities resulting from the September 11 terrorist acts are excluded.

NOTE

Miles, departures, and flight hours are compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. Rates are computed by dividing the number of fatalities, serious injuries, total accidents, and fatal accidents by the number of miles, departures, or flight hours. These figures are based on information provided by airlines to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information.

SOURCES

Fatalities, accidents, miles, departures, and flight hours:

1960: National Transportation Safety Board, Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations, Calendar Year 1967 (Washington, DC: December 1968).

1965-70: Ibid., Calendar Year 1975, NTSB/ARC-77/1 (Washington, DC: January 1977).

1975 (all categories except miles): Ibid., Calendar Year 1983, NTSB/ARC-87/01 (Washington, DC: February 1987), table 18.

1975 (miles): Ibid., Calendar Year 1975, NTSB/ARC-77/1 (Washington, DC: January 1977 ).

1980: Ibid., Calendar Year 1981, NTSB/ARC-85/01 (Washington, DC: February 1985), tables 2 and 16.

1985-2006: Ibid., National Transportation Safety Board, Internet site www.ntsb.gov/aviation/Table5.htm as of September 2007.

Serious injuries:

1970-85: Ibid., Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

1990-2006: Ibid., Analysis and Data Division, personal communications, Nov. 15, 2002, June 9, 2003, Apr. 23, 2004, Apr. 4, 2005, Apr. 21, 2006, and Sept. 5, 2007.

Table 2-9: U.S. Air Carriera Safety Data

Table 2-9: U.S. Air Carrier^a Safety Data