Story ID: 
U.S. Fatal Bizav Accidents Double in 2021
By: Gordon Gilbert
Caption: U.S.-registered business jets and turboprops, which flew significantly more in 2021 than in 2020, also experienced more fatal accidents last year.
Word Count: 393
U.S.-registered business jets and turboprops, which flew significantly more in 2021 than in 2020, also experienced more fatal accidents last year. According to preliminary figures compiled by AIN, business turbine airplanes suffered 16 fatal crashes in 2021, double the number in 2020. What’s more, fatalities more than doubled: from 21 passengers and crew killed in 2020 to 46 in 2021.

Twenty-three people were fatally injured in six crashes of N-numbered business jets last year compared with four in a single accident in 2020. Five of the fatal bizjet accidents in 2021 occurred during Part 91 flights. Initial data shows one fatal crash of a flight operated under Part 135.

The six U.S.-registered business jet accidents (with fatalities shown in parenthesis) last year are: January 9, Citation V (one); May 4, Gulfstream GIV (one); May 29, Citation 501 (seven); July 26, Bombardier Challenger 605 (six); September 2, Citation XLS (four); and the Part 135 crash on December 27 of a Bombardier Learjet 35A (four).  There were no official reports of mishaps involving operations under Part 91K.

Instances of non-fatal accidents involving U.S.-registered turboprops totaled 18 in both 2021 and 2020. However, fatal accidents increased nearly 30 percent year over year: Seven accidents took the lives of 17 people in 2020 versus 10 crashes and 23 fatalities last year (the same number who perished in U.S. jet accidents in 2021). Updated information shows that all fatal N-numbered turboprop accidents occurred under Part 91.  

The fatal accidents involving N-numbered turboprops last year are: February 7, Cessna Conquest (two fatalities); April 23, Swearingen SA226 (two); May 5, Mitsubishi MU-2 (three plus one on the ground); July 10, Beechcraft King Air C90 (two); July 18, C90 in Mexico (three); August 20, Dahar TBM-700 (one); September 28, Rockwell 690 (three); October 8, Cessna Turbine P210 (four); November 15, King Air E90 (two); and December 10, Piper Meridian (one).

In 2021, two non-U.S. business jets had fatal accidents that claimed 10 lives compared with four accidents causing 14 fatalities in 2020. On April 20, the co-pilot was killed in the crash of a Learjet 35A in Brazil while undergoing flight testing/training. On December 15, all nine occupants died in the crash of a chartered GIV in the Dominican Republic. Fatal accidents of non-U.S. registered turboprops quadrupled from two to eight, year over year, and the number of fatalities skyrocketed from nine in 2020 to 40 in 2021. 

Our data does not include mishaps involving solely cargo or military operations, illegal flights, shootdowns, and intentional crashes.
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