The worldwide commercial jet fleet experienced 23 accidents in 2021, including one fatal crash that killed all 62 passengers and crew, according to new Boeing data. In comparison, 17 accidents, including three fatal accidents with 122 fatalities, were recorded in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.1
Boeing’s annual Statistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, published in August, classifies that fatal crash — which involved a Sriwijaya Boeing 737-400 shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia on Jan. 9 — as the only major accident in 2021. Boeing defines a major accident as one in which any of three conditions applies: the airplane was destroyed, multiple fatalities occurred, or there was one fatality, and the airplane was substantially damaged.
Two airplanes were destroyed in 2021 crashes — the Sriwijaya 737 and…
