NTSB Number ARC-02/01
NTIS Number PB2002-106890
PDF Document(3MB)

Summary: This report presents a statistical compilation and review of air carrier accidents that occurred in 1997  and that involved U.S.-registered aircraft conducting operations under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 121 and 135.  Briefly stated, Part 121 applies to air carriers, such as major airlines and cargo haulers, that fly large transport aircraft.  Part 135 applies to commercial air carriers commonly referred to as commuter airlines and on-demand air taxi operators.  Please note that in March 1997 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a reclassification for major airlines (as defined in 14 CFR Part 121).  For this reason scheduled Part 135 carrier planes with 10 or more seats are now classified as a Part 121 operation.  This change in the regulations during 1997 affected both the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) classification of accidents based on category of operation and the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) estimate of flight activity by category.  This reclassification of Part 121 and Part 135 operations, in turn, affects comparisons between 1997 and past years.

 The report is divided into three major sections: 14 CFR Part 121 Operations; Scheduled 14 CFR Part 135 Operations; and Nonscheduled 14 CFR Part 135 Operations.  Each section begins with an overview of accidents and their consequences (injuries and aircraft damage) for 1997 and for the 10 preceding years.  Several tables then present accident parameters for 1997 only.  Each section concludes with tabulations that present comparative statistics for 1997 and for the 10-year period 1987-1996.

 Exposure data (flight hours, miles, and departures) used to compute accident rates for operations under Part 121 and for scheduled operations under Part 135 were obtained from the FAA, which compiled data reported by carriers to the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).   Flight hours for nonscheduled operations under Part 135 were obtained by the FAA in its surveys of general aviation activity.  National Transportation Safety Board Report Form 6120.4 (appendix F) shows the data elements upon which this report is based.

 In many of the tables presented in this report (such as table 4), the number of accidents in a given category is small.  In these tables, even a small change in the number of accidents would result in a substantial change in the accident rate.  Therefore, the reader should exercise caution in the use of these rates and in comparing numbers and percentages of accidents between two time periods when the number of accidents is small.

 Beginning with the 1998 Annual Reviews, the Safety Board will present annual statistics for commercial and general aviation in a revised format.  The new statistical reviews will present more information in the form of graphs rather than tables and will include expanded text explanations of the graphs.  For those interested in the underlying data used to develop the annual reviews, associated tabular data will be available through the NTSB Web site: www.ntsb.gov.