Hull Losses
The number of accidents today is significantly lower than a comparable year in the previous decade.
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.
The number of flights on commercial jet aircraft recovered to values similar to 2019. However compared to 2023 with one hull loss. In 2024 twelve hull losses were recorded.
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.
The rate of hull losses is steadily decreasing over time
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.
Generation 4 aircraft have the lowest hull loss rate
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 2024, generation 4 aircraft had a rate of 0.12 hull losses per million flight cycles. This rate is more than 3 times lower than the previous generation 3 jets.
10 year moving average hull loss rate (per million flights) per aircraft generation
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Evolution of the Fatal 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 2024, all aircraft generations have a combined fatal accident rate of 0.31 hull losses per million flight cycles.
10 year moving average hull loss rate (per million flights) per aircraft generation
