Is the number of plane crashes per year increasing?

The answer is Yes and No. Number Yes, Rate no. Let me explain. Aircraft crashes are usually measured in two ways. One is the total number of crashes in a year. Acts of violence (such as Ukraine crash or Kanishka), pilot suicides etc. read more

One is the total number of crashes in a year. Acts of violence (such as Ukraine crash or Kanishka), pilot suicides etc. are excluded. Going by this figure the number of accidents in India has seen a significant rise even though global numbers have actually remained relatively steady. read more

More recently, 49 died in 2006 in the takeoff crash of a regional jet: Comair Flight 5191 in Lexington, Kentucky. In Buffalo, New York, 50 died in another regional plane crash, Colgan Air Flight 3407, in 2009. Last year's crash landing in San Francisco of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 — a Boeing 777 — resulted in three deaths. read more