Some 393 people were killed in civil aviation accidents in the United States in 2018, up 13 percent from the 347 killed the previous year, according to preliminary data from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Among the 393 fatalities was the first airline passenger fatality since 2009 — a passenger on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 who was killed April 17, 2018, in an accident involving an uncontained engine failure. The passenger was partially ejected from the airplane after engine debris damaged a window and caused the rapid depressurization of the 737.
Data showed that 381 people (or 97 percent of all fatalities) were killed in general aviation operations in 2018, compared with 331 people in 2017. The NTSB calculated the fatal accident rate in general aviation as 1.029 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, compared with a rate of 0.935 in 2017.
NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said …
