General Aviation Accidents Continue Upward Trend, No Fatalities On U.S. Airlines Or Commuters

The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday released preliminary aviation accident statistics showing U.S. civil aviation accidents fell from 1,550 in 2011 to 1,539 in 2012.

For the third year in row, there were no fatal accidents involving scheduled Part 121 operations (commercial air transport). In addition, there were no fatal accidents involving scheduled Part 135 operations (commuter), the sixth year in a row that this segment of aviation experienced no fatalities.

For the general aviation community, the results were mixed. Although the number of total accidents (1,471) and fatal accidents (271) increased from the previous year, there were fewer (432) fatalities and the accident rate per 100,000 flight hours declined to 6.78.

Finally, on-demand Part 135 operations, which include charter, air taxi, air tour, and air medical flights, posted decreases across all measures. In 2012, the number of total accidents, fatal accidents, fatalities, and the accident rate per 100,000 flight hours for these operations decreased from the previous year.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov/data/aviation_stats.html