Fewer air accidents in 2025, fatalities rise on catastrophic crashes: ICAO
Commercial airlines
transported nearly five billion passengers on 38 million scheduled flights last
year, both higher than in 2024. During the same period, the number of accidents
fell from 95 to 85, improving the global accident rate from 2.6 to 2.2
accidents per million departures.
The report also showed
significant progress in reducing fatal accidents. The number of fatal crashes
dropped from 10 in 2024 to four in 2025, while the fatal accident rate declined
by 60 percent, from 0.27 to 0.11 per million departures.
Despite these gains,
aviation fatalities rose from 296 to 387 in 2025 after one accident alone
claimed 260 lives, demonstrating how a single catastrophic event can heavily
influence annual safety statistics.
ICAO identified five
major accident categories requiring continued global attention: loss of control
in flight, controlled flight into terrain, mid-air collisions, runway
excursions and runway incursions. Together, these accounted for more than half
of all fatal accidents during the year.
The report highlighted
loss of control in flight as the leading safety concern, representing nearly
one-third of fatal accidents among ICAO's high-risk categories. Mid-air
collisions accounted for almost 15 percent of global fatalities, while a single
controlled flight into terrain accident was responsible for more than 10 percent
of all deaths.
On a positive note, ICAO
reported no runway incursion accidents involving commercial air transport in
2025, reflecting progress in runway safety initiatives, although seven runway
excursion accidents were still recorded.
The report also found
continued improvement in national aviation safety oversight, with the global
average score rising to 69 percent. However, ICAO said many countries still
need to strengthen technical staffing, safety inspections and regulatory
oversight to further improve aviation safety.
