Fatal accidents involving U.S.-registered turbine business aircraft plummeted in the first half, according to data compiled by AIN. The rate fell steeply from 57 people killed in 13 accidents in the first six months of last year to 14 killed in five accidents this year.
The February 8 in-flight breakup of a Cessna Citation 501 in which the two pilots and two passengers died was the only fatal U.S.-registered business jet accident in the first six months versus 21 people killed in five business jet fatal accidents in the same period in 2019. Four U.S.-registered turboprop accidents took the lives of 10 people in the first half of this year, compared with eight accidents and 36 fatalities last year.
The number of fatal crashes involving non-U.S.-registered turbine business airplanes took the opposite trend from U.S. accidents in the first six months, despite the impact of the pandemic on reducing worldwide operations. Fourteen people died in three accidents involving non-N-numbered business jet in the first half of this year versus zero fatalities in the same period last year. Non-U.S.-registered turboprops suffered one fatal accident in the first half versus zero fatal crashes in the same year-ago period.
