EU air accidents: 30 deaths less in 2024 than in 2023

In 2024, 91 people were killed in air accidents in the EU involving an EU-registered aircraft, 30 fewer deaths compared with 2023 (121).

Accidents involving aeroplanes were responsible for most deaths (74), followed by sailplanes (10), helicopters (6) and balloons (1). No fatal accidents or injuries involving unmanned aircraft were observed in the last 2 years.

Non-commercial operations (e.g., business, demonstration, flight training/instructional, relocation) accounted for most of the deaths (91.2%), far ahead of specialised operations (e.g., agriculture, aerial advertisement, or photography operations, at 5.5%) and commercial air transport (3.3%).

This information comes from data on air safety published by Eurostat today. This article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on air safety statistics in the EU.

Source dataset: tran_sf_aviavi

Last year, in the EU, 214 people were seriously or slightly injured in air accidents by EU-registered aircrafts, down from 229 incidents in 2023. Around 60% of the injuries occurred in accidents linked to aeroplanes (129). Sailplane accidents resulted in 41 injuries, while accidents with helicopters and balloons led to 24 and 20 injuries, respectively.