The number one priority of Airbus is the continued safe transport of everyone and everything that flies aboard an Airbus product. No accident is ever acceptable. That is why, when accidents do unfortunately occur, Airbus does its utmost to learn from what happened and takes whatever actions are necessary to improve safety. This resource on accident statistics is part of that effort, by sharing the Airbus analysis of the historical aspects and current status of aviation safety for commercial jet aircraft.

This analysis clearly demonstrates that our industry has achieved huge improvements in safety, especially over the last two decades. It also underlines the significant contribution technology has made in ensuring that taking a flight in a commercial jet aircraft is a low-risk activity.

Traffic and Accidents in 2022

The number of flights on commercial jets in 2022 increased by almost 5 million when compared with 2021, but this is still around 20% below the number of flights recorded prior to the pandemic.

The industry is coming back with a positive traffic trend throughout 2022 but the number of flights was still lower than pre-pandemic levels.

There was a fatal accident in which all passengers and crews lost their lives that is yet to be classified. This is why, at the time of production of these statistics, that accident is not yet included in the record.

There were 2 fatal accidents recorded involving collisions with ground vehicles entering the runway. One of them was a hull loss and there were 6 additional hull losses.

There were no passenger or crew fatalities in the 2 recorded fatal accidents caused by vehicles entering the runway, however 4 people lost their lives on the ground. These accidents highlight the need to focus on safety across the entire air transport system and to always have a safe aircraft, safely operated, in a safe environment.

In years with low numbers of fatal accidents, it reinforces the need to continuously learn from accidents that could have been fatal, and make efforts to anticipate risks from reported in-service experience or the analysis of operational data.

It is important to consider that the statistics in one year are not always indicative of the overall safety trends. Analysis of aviation accident statistics over recent decades is more representative for evaluating the effectiveness of the safety initiatives that were implemented to mitigate threats, both before and during the recent Covid-19 crisis.