International Air Transport Association (IATA) figures show the commercial aircraft accident rate in 2025 was an improvement on the year before but above the long-term trend.
The accident rate of 1.32 per million flights (one accident per 759,646 flights) was better than the 1.42 in 2024 but slightly above the 2021-2025 five-year average of 1.27.
The fatality risk increased to 0.17 per million flights, higher than 2024 (0.06) and the five-year average (0.12).
The 2025 increase in fatality risk was driven by a small number of fatal accidents with the Air India crash (with 241 fatalities) and PSA Airlines flight in Washington DC (with 64 fatalities) accounting for 77% of deaths.
There were 394 onboard fatalities in 2025, more than the 244 fatalities reported in 2024 and the five-year average of 198.
. . . Safest Travel
“Flying is the safest form of long-distance travel. Flying is so safe that even one accident among the nearly 40 million flights operated annually moves the global data,’’ says IATA director general Willie Walsh.
A decade ago, the rate stood at one fatal accident for every 3.5 million f lights. Now it is one fatal accident for every 5.6 million flights, says IATA. The most common accidents in 2025 were tail strikes, landing gear events, runway excursions, and ground damage.
IATA says there were no loss of control inflight accidents in 2025.
