The U.S. government began publishing statistics on the safety of commercial aviation in 1927. While 1978 legislation eliminated economic regulation of the U.S. airline industry, it left safety regulation very much in place.
See the safety record--as recorded by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) back to 1927--of U.S. passenger and cargo airlines performing scheduled services worldwide, or a comprehensive article on continuing gains in U.S. airline safety.
As recognized by the National Safety Council (NSC), "Passenger transportation incidents account for three out of ten unintentional-injury deaths. But the risk of death to the passenger, expressed on a per mile basis, varies greatly by transportation mode. Highway travel by personal vehicle presents the greatest risk; air, rail, and bus travel have much lower death rates." The table below shows the most recent available comparative information on passenger transportation fatality rates in the United States.
| YEAR |
U.S. PASSENGER FATALITIES PER 100 MILLION PASSENGER MILES |
| Psgr. Autos1 |
Buses2 |
Railroad Psgr. Trains3 |
Airlines4 |
| 1989 |
1.12 |
0.04 |
0.06 |
0.09 |
| 1990 |
0.99 |
0.04 |
0.02 |
0.003 |
| 1991 |
0.91 |
0.04 |
0.06 |
0.03 |
| 1992 |
0.83 |
0.04 |
0.02 |
0.01 |
| 1993 |
0.86 |
0.02 |
0.45 |
0.01 |
| 1994 |
0.91 |
0.03 |
0.04 |
0.06 |
| 1995 |
0.97 |
0.03 |
0.00 |
0.04 |
| 1996 |
0.96 |
0.02 |
0.09 |
0.08 |
| 1997 |
0.92 |
0.01 |
0.05 |
0.01 |
| 1998 |
0.86 |
0.05 |
0.03 |
0.00 |
| 1999 |
0.83 |
0.07 |
0.10 |
0.003 |
| 2000 |
0.80 |
0.01 |
0.03 |
0.02 |
| 2001 |
0.78 |
0.02 |
0.02 |
0.06 |
| 2002 |
0.77 |
0.06 |
0.05 |
0.00 |
| 2003 |
0.74 |
0.05 |
0.02 |
0.005 |
| 2004 |
0.71 |
0.05 |
0.02 |
0.002 |
| 2005 |
0.69 |
0.07 |
0.10 |
0.003 |
| 1996-2005 |
0.81 |
0.04 |
0.05 |
0.02 |
Source: National Safety Council Injury Facts®
1. Passenger cars/taxis; drivers considered passengers; data from the NSC Fatality Analysis Reporting System
2. Does not include school buses; data from the NSC Fatality Analysis Reporting System
3. Data from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
4. Large and commuter airlines, excluding cargo; data from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
For additional information, visit NSC or DOT's National Transportation Statistics.