However, the growth in air traffic is increasing. As a result, the industry must remain vigilant, avoiding the trap of complacency.
Hull loss is an event in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. Most fatal accidents also result in a hull loss. However, in the majority of hull losses, there are no fatalities.
In contrast to 2024, which saw four fatal accidents and twelve hull losses, 2025 recorded three fatal accidents, all of which resulted in hull losses, alongside a further three hull losses without fatalities. The long term trend remains that the total number of accidents continues to decrease each decade.
As the number of accidents and flights will vary each year, accident rates are more relevant than reviewing the number of accidents per year when analyzing trends.
However the growth in air traffic is increasing. In consequence, the industry must remain vigilant, avoiding the trap of complacency.
There were far fewer flights in the 1960s, but a peak in the accident rates is shown due to the lower number of flights and the higher number of accidents recorded during this period.
However, safety statistics from a single year may not accurately reflect long term trends. Analysis of the hull loss accident rate has shown a steady decrease over time despite the significant growth in commercial jet aviation traffic, especially in recent decades. Introduction of new technologies with the arrival of each aircraft generation, and continuous incremental enhancements, are a key enabler to reduce the hull loss accident rate. More detailed information and analysis of the impact of these technologies are described in the “Generation of Jets, Accident Rates by Category & Generations” section.
The continual reduction in accident rates has been achieved by an ongoing commitment of the commercial aviation industry to enable a safe aircraft to be safely operated in a safe air transport system.
A notable part of this success is due to effective regulation, a strong safety culture, and improvements in training. Technological advances are also a crucial enabler for enhancing the level of safety. In particular, technologies introduced in aircraft systems intentionally evolved with improving safety as their aim.
A comparison of hull loss accident rates by generation of aircraft provides a clear illustration of the value of commercial aviation industry investments in technology to improve safety. generation 4 aircraft have the lowest hull loss rate of all. In 2025, generation 4 aircraft had a rate of 0.10 hull losses per million flight cycles. This rate is more than 3 times lower than the previous generation 3 jets.
Evolution of the hull loss Accident Rate of Aircraft Generations and Air Traffic
The 10-year moving hull loss average accident rate for all aircraft generations provides a clearer picture of an overall trend. A notable part of this success is due to effective regulation, a strong safety culture, and improvements in training. Technological advances are also a crucial enabler for enhancing the level of safety In particular, technologies introduced in aircraft systems intentionally evolved with improving safety as their aim. In 2025, all aircraft generations have a combined fatal accident rate of 0.14 hull losses per million flight cycles.
