Unlike the previous two years, the worldwide commercial jet accident rate did not achieve a record low point in 2013, but it was still an excellent year for aviation safety. The 2013 commercial jet major accident rate was 0.24 accidents per million departures, which is up from 2012’s record rate of 0.14, but below 2011’s then-record rate of 0.28. The 2013 rate is the second-lowest rate ever recorded.
Unfortunately, there were two commercial jet upset aircraft accidents in 2013, the first in two years, and the return of controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents continued. Four of the seven commercial major jet accidents were CFIT accidents.
Commercial turboprops also regressed slightly from their 2012 record low point in terms of number of accidents for the year. CFIT accidents again dominated the turboprop fatality numbers. Business jets had eight major accidents in 2013, an improvement from their 2012 total of 13.
There are now over 23,000 commercial jets in the world (Ta…
