Pilot Debrief

Insights

31,365 NTSB general-aviation records and 16,802 lives lost, aggregated. Figures update as new reports land.

Mishaps by year

2008–2026. 10 earlier records across 9 scattered years are excluded from the chart — too sparse to plot, not omitted from any count. 2026 is still in progress and is shown muted.

Investigation status

Trailing five years. Each record counts once.

Aircraft category · 2024

Final reports only. The year is computed, not fixed — it tracks the most recent year whose final reports have substantially landed, so this chart moves on its own as the corpus fills.

  • Airplane 968
  • Helicopter 97
  • Glider 21
  • Balloon 13
  • Trike 7
  • Gyroplane 7
  • Powered parachute 3
  • Unknown/Other 2
  • PLFT 1

Fatalities by year

Complete years only; 2026 is omitted rather than shown as a partial-year drop.

What pilots search for

235 searches over the last 90 days. Every search is counted, including those that fit no category — the shares below sum to 100%.

  • Other 58.7%
  • Weather / IMC 12.8%
  • Engine / power loss 10.2%
  • Aircraft type 6.4%
  • Loss of control 4.7%
  • Fuel 3.4%
  • Landing / runway 3.4%
  • Registration 0.4%

Source: NTSB accident records held in the Pilot Debrief database. Fatality counts use the authoritative NTSB field.