Accident Patterns

Each accident is grouped by the one event the NTSB marked as defining it. These nine patterns account for 79.0% of lives lost aboard in NTSB-investigated accidents since 2008. Final NTSB reports only, through 29 July 2026.

When accidents happen

Pattern	Accidents	Fatal rate	Lives lost aboard
Loss of Control on Takeoff/Initial Climb	1,010	33.3%	560
Loss of Thrust on Takeoff	994	13.7%	195
Departure Stall	268	38.1%	172
Engine Failure Enroute	1,204	9.9%	174
Loss of Control While Maneuvering	569	64.9%	579
Maneuvering Stall	204	57.8%	205
Traffic Pattern Stall	118	49.2%	91
Missed Approach (IFR)	55	70.9%	84
Go-Around (VFR)	444	14.6%	113

Why accidents happen

These come from NTSB investigators’ findings. They show how often a factor was present in an accident, not how often it was the cause.

Pattern	Accidents	Fatal rate	Lives lost aboard
Decision Making / Judgment	3,054	31.6%	1,753
Attention / Monitoring	1,817	19.5%	730
Planning / Preparation	1,325	21.8%	538
Maintenance	1,262	15.9%	332
Delayed Action	884	7.6%	124
Experience / Qualifications	848	44.6%	655
Preflight Inspection	543	12.3%	110
Carburetor Icing Conditions	431	10.2%	59
Impairment / Incapacitation	415	79.5%	482
Spatial Disorientation	357	93.3%	681
Checklist Use	330	12.4%	92
External and Self-Induced Pressure	62	54.8%	77

Findings data through 29 July 2026. Findings are published with the NTSB’s final report, so an accident appears here only after its investigation is complete.

88 accident patterns

Every pattern appearing as a defining event in this period, ranked by lives lost aboard, using the NTSB’s own wording. Includes the catch-alls — Unknown or undetermined and Miscellaneous/other — at their honest rank; neither is featured above.

Code	Category	Accidents	Fatal rate	Lives lost aboard
240	Loss of control in flight	3,203	42.6%	2,372
241	Aerodynamic stall/spin	820	42.2%	607
120	Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)	585	53.5%	597
401	VFR encounter with IMC	228	82.5%	345
341	Loss of engine power (total)	2,073	10.8%	326
250	Midair collision	138	50.7%	247
000	Unknown or undetermined	424	36.3%	232
220	Low altitude operation/event	526	30.6%	220
470	Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)	696	18.4%	206
342	Loss of engine power (partial)	1,098	10.5%	163
337	Aircraft structural failure	150	52.7%	142
490	Collision during takeoff/land	687	9.8%	123
900	Miscellaneous/other	517	11.6%	96
192	Fuel exhaustion	653	9.6%	88
191	Fuel starvation	543	10.7%	86
270	Abrupt maneuver	129	35.7%	86
402	Loss of visual reference	94	40.4%	65
340	Powerplant sys/comp malf/fail	386	10.9%	62
230	Loss of control on ground	3,654	1.1%	54
390	Windshear or thunderstorm	101	26.7%	53
330	Sys/Comp malf/fail (non-power)	518	5.8%	50
338	Part(s) separation from AC	205	16.1%	49
271	Inflight upset	38	55.3%	48
193	Fuel contamination	198	14.1%	47
150	Fire/smoke (non-impact)	162	16.0%	46
333	Flight control sys malf/fail	220	13.6%	37
901	Birdstrike	196	5.6%	33
190	Fuel related	237	10.1%	31
210	Structural icing	41	46.3%	30
300	Runway excursion	556	2.2%	27
850	Medical event	29	72.4%	27
500	Loss of lift	162	5.6%	19
090	Abnormal runway contact	620	1.8%	16
990	Missing aircraft	10	100.0%	14
360	Turbulence encounter	240	3.8%	12
092	Hard landing	1,163	0.9%	11
081	AC/prop/rotor contact w person	44	34.1%	11
245	Mast bumping	8	75.0%	11
480	External load event (Rotorcraft)	27	29.6%	10
350	Security/criminal event	18	55.6%	10
095	Landing gear not configured	401	1.7%	9
361	Aircraft wake turb encounter	25	28.0%	9
282	Altitude deviation	5	60.0%	9
096	Nose over/nose down	451	1.8%	8
200	Ground collision	375	1.3%	8
370	Landing area undershoot	121	1.7%	8
231	Dynamic rollover	96	5.2%	8
242	Loss of tail rotor effectiveness	69	8.7%	8
332	Electrical system malf/failure	67	4.5%	5
320	Runway incursion veh/AC/person	20	15.0%	4
020	Aircraft servicing event	9	11.1%	4
380	Landing area overshoot	194	1.5%	3
600	Simulated/training event	11	18.2%	3
093	Dragged wing/rotor/float/other	61	3.3%	2
244	Settling with power/vortex ring state	41	4.9%	2
510	Glider tow event	19	10.5%	2
160	Explosion (non-impact)	10	10.0%	2
334	Flight instrument malf/fail	9	11.1%	2
440	Off-field or emergency landing	8	25.0%	2
331	Pressure/environ sys malf/fail	5	20.0%	2
094	Landing gear collapse	449	0.2%	1
110	Cabin safety event	58	3.4%	1
010	Aircraft loading event	13	7.7%	1
170	Fire/smoke (post-impact)	2	50.0%	1
140	Engine shutdown	1	100.0%	1
310	Wildlife encounter (non-bird)	90	0.0%	0
080	Ground handling event	59	0.0%	0
091	Tailstrike	58	0.0%	0
097	Roll over	30	0.0%	0
082	Prop/jet/rotor blast/suction	29	3.4%	0
070	Airport occurrence	24	0.0%	0
284	Wrong surface or wrong airport	19	0.0%	0
232	Ground resonance	17	0.0%	0
362	Clear air turbulence encounter	17	0.0%	0
343	Uncontained engine failure	11	0.0%	0
400	Other weather encounter	7	0.0%	0
100	Air traffic event	6	0.0%	0
260	Near midair/TCAS alert/loss of separation	6	0.0%	0
194	Wrong fuel	5	0.0%	0
336	Comm system malf/failure	5	0.0%	0
460	Evacuation	5	0.0%	0
030	Preflight or dispatch event	4	0.0%	0
280	Navigation error	4	0.0%	0
281	Course deviation	3	0.0%	0
050	Aircraft inspection event	1	0.0%	0
060	Attempted remediation/recovery	1	0.0%	0
335	Nav system malfunction/failure	1	0.0%	0
450	Hazardous material leak/spill	1	0.0%	0

Accident Patterns

Loss of Control in Flight

Aerodynamic Stall/Spin

Controlled Flight into Terrain

Engine Power Loss

VFR into IMC

Fuel Management

Midair Collision

Low-Altitude Flying

Structural Failure

When accidents happen

Why accidents happen

88 accident patterns