Safety Improved in All Aviation Segments

The number of accidents in all segments of civil aviation last year was less than in 2005, according to the NTSB, with general aviation recording the lowest number of accidents in the 40 years of record keeping. Major airlines continued to have the lowest accident rates in civil aviation. The number of air-taxi accidents has been steadily decreasing over the past 10 years, while the hours flown by these air carriers has increased steadily. Part of the decline in the number of GA accidents was due to a steady decrease in the amount of flight activity. Since 1990, the number of GA hours flown has declined 20 percent.