Between 2014 and 2020, there were 53 accidents in the ATO-SA sector. The majority, around 74%, were during non-scheduled passenger flights.
Of these accidents 5 were fatal resulting in 19 fatalities, 4 of these were during non-scheduled passenger flight and one during freight operations. There were 5 accidents that resulted in serious injuries. Another 35 accidents resulted in minor injuries to passengers or crew.
Sector occurrences (2014-2020)
| Total number of occurrences: | 2,725 |
|---|---|
| Average number of occurrences per year: | 389 (1.07 per day) |
| Accidents: | 53 |
| Serious incidents: | 82 |
| Incidents: | 2,590 |
Scheduled passenger operations had an average rate of 7.8 accidents per million flying hours (2014-2020). This is around 3.9 times the accident rate for larger aeroplanes scheduled passenger operations.
Accidents per million flying hours
The following outline accidents per million flying hours in each operation.
- Non-scheduled passenger operations had an average rate of 33.8 accidents per million flying hours (2014-2020).
- Air medical operations had an average rate of 5.5 accidents per million flying hours (2014-2020).
- Freight operations had an average rate of 23.2 accidents per million flying hours (2014-2020), or almost 2 per year.
Occurrence rates per million flying hours (average 2014-2020)
| Occurrence type | Fatal Accident | Accident | Serious Incident | Incident |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled passenger operations | 0 | 7.8 | 31.3 | 1244 |
| Non-scheduled passenger operations | 3.5 | 33.8 | 45.1 | 728 |
| Air Medical Operations | 0 | 5.5 | 20.1 | 1704 |
| Freight operations | 8.1 | 23.2 | 58 | 944 |
Occurrence types
Analysis of occurrence types showed that the most common accident and serious incident occurrences were:
- near collision
- engine failure
- malfunction and landing gear / indication issues.
Other common accidents include:
- Air-ground communications
- runway excursions
- taxiing collision / near collision.
While the data shows these events occur more often than others, keep in mind the contributing factors. Some events will need further examination to determine the underlying causes.
