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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Air Fatalities

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Air Fatalities

Monthly data, not seasonally adjusted

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Air Fatalities. If you are a user with disability and cannot view this image, use the table version. If you need further assistance, call 800-853-1351.

Improved safety is the foremost goal of the United States Department of Transportation. The Federal Aviation Administration regulates safety, and the National Transportation Safety Board (independent of the U.S. DOT) leads accident investigations.

The number of air fatalities has decreased. There were 596 fatalities in general aviation in 2000, and 454 in 2010. Mass fatalities for air carriers and air taxis have become rarer, and there have been no more than 50 fatalities in any single accident since November 2001. In contrast, from 1991 to 2000, there were six accidents involving more than 50 fatalities.

Air Fatalities Jul-11 Jul-12
General Aviation Fatalities 79 38
Percent change from same month previous year 25.4 -51.9
Air Carrier and Air Taxi (FAR Parts 121 and 135) Fatalities 0 0

NOTES: General Aviation data for September 2006 excludes 154 persons killed aboard a foreign-registered aircraft operated by Gol Airlines in a collision with a U.S.-registered general aviation aircraft over Brazil. This incident is otherwise recorded as 154 fatalities for U.S. general aviation in the source database.

General Aviation excludes FAR Part 121, 129, and 135 operations, as well as "Non-U.S., Commercial" (NUSC) and "Public Use" (PUBU). Air Carriers are Part 121, and Air Taxis are Part 135.

SOURCE: National Transportation Safety Board, Aviation: Accident Database & Synopses, available at http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/index.aspx as of October 2012.