Air transportation occurrences in 2024

Executive summary

The TSB received 1010 reports of air occurrences in 2024 (193 accidents and 817 incidents), including 46 fatalities.

A total of 193 accidents were reported in 2024. This number is 7% higher than the previous year but 9% below the yearly average of 211 accidents reported in the prior 10 years, 2014 to 2023. Most (178) of the accidents in 2024 took place in Canada and involved Canadian-registered aircraft. Despite an upturn in 2023 and 2024, the number of air transportation accidents has decreased in the last decade.

The TSB recorded 27 fatal air transportation accidents involving 46 fatalities in 2024. This is an increase over 2023 and is 19% above the average of 23 fatal accidents involving 37 fatalities over the 10 years between 2014 and 2023. Twenty-two of the 46 air transportation fatalities in 2024 involved commercial operations. There were 6 fatalities involving commuter operations (CARs 704), 10 involving Air Taxi operations (CARs 703), and 6 involving Aerial Work (CARs 702). There were no fatalities involving airliner operations (CARs 705), or Flight Training Units (CARs 406) in 2024. The remaining 24 (of 46) fatalities in 2024 were linked to privately registered aircraft and involved recreational or other operators. None of these fatalities involved an operator holding a Private Operator Registration Document (PORD) (CARs 604). Four accidents in 2024 involved a release of dangerous goods.

The 2024 overall air transportation accident rate of 3.0 per 100 000 aircraft movements (Table 3 and Figure 4) is based on the 178 accidents (8% more than in 2023) in Canada involving Canadian-registered and foreign airplanes and helicopters (ultralights and other aircraft types are excluded), and the estimated 5 650 000 aircraft movements at Canadian airports (3% more than in 2023).
 

Statistical summary - Air transportation occurrences in 2024

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) gathers and uses transportation occurrenceSee Definitions section. data as part of its investigations to analyze safety deficiencies and identify risks in the Canadian air transportation system.

This statistical summary serves to describe the accident, incident, and injury counts that are presented in the included Tables. It provides limited discussion and some context but is not intended to be an in-depth analysis of the data.

It should be noted that certain characteristics of the data constrain statistical analysis and the identification of emerging trends. These include the small totals of accidents and incidents, the large variability in the data from year to year, and changes to regulations and definitions. The reader is cautioned to keep these limitations in mind when reading this summary to avoid drawing conclusions that cannot be supported by statistical analysis.

Throughout this document, there are instances where categories of occurrences sum to more than the total number of occurrences. For example, if a single occurrence involves an airplaneThe term “airplane” is synonymous with Transport Canada’s term “aeroplane” and will be used throughout the document for simplicity. and a glider, the occurrence count will increase by one in each aircraft category but the occurrence itself will be counted only once in the total of occurrences.

The 2024 data were collected according to the reporting requirements described in the Transportation Safety Board Regulations in force during that calendar year.

The statistics presented here reflect the TSB Aviation Safety Information System (ASIS) database at 10 March 2025. Since the occurrence data are constantly being updated in the live database, the statistics may change slightly over time.

Also, as many occurrences are limited to data gathering, information recorded on some occurrences may not have been verified.

The following discussion refers to data tables contained in this document.

Overview of accidents and fatalities

Accident counts

Air transportation occurrences (both accidents and incidents)See Definitions section. are reportable to the TSB if they occur in Canada. Occurrences that take place outside of Canada are also reportable if they involve Canadian-registered aircraft, and meet the criteria laid out in the TSB Regulations.Transportation Safety Board Regulations, at https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2014-37/index.html (last accessed on 19 April 2024).

In 2024, a total of 193 air transportation accidents were reported to the TSB (Table 1 and Figure 1). This number is 7% higher than the previous year’s total of 181 accidents but 9% below the yearly average of 211 accidents reported in the prior 10 years, 2014 to 2023. Most (178) of the accidents in 2024 took place in Canada and involved Canadian-registered aircraft. Six accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft took place outside Canada, and 9 accidents in Canada involved a foreign-registered aircraft. In general, the number of air transportation accidents has been decreasing in the last decade.

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There were 173 accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft (excluding ultralights) in 2024 (Table 2). This is 9% above the 2023 count of 158 accidents, but 6% below the average of 185 accidents in the preceding 10 years (2014 to 2023). If the 11 accidents involving ultralights are included in the count, there were 184 accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft in 2024.

Aircraft type

Of the 193 total air transportation accidents reported to the TSB in 2024, 142 (74%) involved fixed-wing, powered airplanes (other than ultralights) (Table 1), 33 (17%) involved helicopters, 11 (6%) involved ultralights, and 8 accidents (4%) involved all other types of aircraft, such as balloons, gyroplanes, gliders, airships, hang gliders, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In the 10 years from 2014 to 2023, the average proportion of accidents involving each of these four categories of aircraft has remained constant: in each year, airplanes have been involved in roughly 75% of reportable accidents, helicopters in about 13%, ultralights in about 9%, and other aircraft in about 3%.

Operator type

There were 78 accidents that involved commercially operated aircraft of all types in 2024 (Table 1). This is 3% more than the 76 such accidents recorded in 2023, and 9% above the average of 72 accidents recorded in the 10 years from 2014 to 2023.

Commercially operated Canadian-registered airplanes were involved in 50 accidents in 2024 (Table 2 and Figure 2). Of those, 11 involved operations under Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) Subpart 705 (airliners). This is greater than the 6 accidents involving Canadian-registered airliners in 2023, and almost double the average of 6 accidents per year recorded from 2014 to 2023.

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In 2024, there was 1 accident involving a Canadian-registered commuter airplane operating under CARs Subpart 704 (Table 2), as well as 28 accidents involving air taxi operations (CARs Subpart 703)—17 involving airplanes and 11 involving helicopters. The 28 air taxi accidents are 4 more than those reported in 2023 (24) and are more than the average of 23 accidents per year occurring between 2014 and 2023. Flight training units operating under CARs Subpart 406 were involved in 15 accidents in 2024, of which 13 involved airplanes and 2 involved a helicopter. On average for the period 2014 to 2023, flight training units were involved in about 19 airplane and 2 helicopter accidents per year.

Overall, in 2024, 114 air transportation accidents involved non-commercial (i.e., private aircraft) operations (Table 1), compared to 103 in the preceding year. The 2024 total is 17% below the annual average of 137 accidents from 2014 to 2023. Of the 114 total accidents in the non-commercial (private aircraft) operations category, 85 involved Canadian-registered airplanes (Table 2). No accidents were reported to involve any airplane operating under CARs Subpart 604 having a Private Operator Registration Document (PORD).

Most operators of non-commercial (private) Canadian-registered aircraft are classified as recreational. Recreational operators are responsible for a significant amount of flying activity and tend to be involved in many accidents each year. In 2024, 103 accidents involved recreational operators of Canadian-registered aircraft—82 of them in fixed-wing airplanes (Table 2), 4 in helicopters, and 17 in other aircraft types (not shown in Tables). These 103 accidents are 8% more than in the preceding year, but 19% fewer than the 10-year average number of accidents involving recreational Canadian-registered aircraft (127).

In 2024 there was 1 reported accident involving state operation of a Canadian-registered helicopter (Table 2). An additional 8 accidents (Table 1) involved other aircraft types: 1 balloon, 3 gliders, 2 gyroplanes, and 2 UAVs.

Province or territory

Ontario and British Columbia had the largest number of reported accidents in 2024, with 40 accidents reported in each province (all aircraft types, including ultralights), surpassing Quebec with 38 accidents (Table 7). Ontario averaged more accidents per year (53) in the 2014–2023 period than any other province or territory, with Quebec having the second-largest average accident count (42).

Altogether, 6 accidents that were reportable under TSB Regulations occurred outside Canada in 2024. These all involved fixed-wing airplanes: 3 were operating commercially and 3 privately (data not presented). These 6 accidents are fewer than the 7 reported in 2023 and are fewer than the average of 8 per year seen over the previous 10 years.

When ultralights are excluded from the counts, many provinces and territories saw fewer accidents reported in 2024 than the average of the previous 10 years (Table 8 and Figure 4).

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Fatal accidents, fatalities, and serious injuries

The TSB recorded 27 fatal air transportation accidents resulting in 46 fatalities in 2024 (tables 1 and 4, and Figure 4). This is more than the 19 fatal accidents in 2023 and is 17% above the average of 23 fatal accidents over the 10 years from 2014 to 2023. Of the 27 fatal accidents in 2024, 17 involved fixed-wing, powered airplanes, 8 involved helicopters, 1 involved ultralight aircraft and 1 involved a glider. Three of these accidents involved aircraft registered in the United States.

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Twenty-two of the 46 air transportation fatalities in 2024 involved commercial operations (Table 4): 6 of them under commuter operations (CARs 704), 10 under air taxi regulations (CARs 703), and 6 under aerial work regulations (CARs 702). There were no fatalities involving airliner operations (CARs 705), or Flight Training Units (CARs 406). The remaining 24 fatalities were linked to privately registered aircraft and involved recreational operators (21 fatalities) or other private operations (3 fatalities). None of these deaths involved an operator holding a Private Operator Registration Document (PORD) (CARs 604).

Overall, 30 people were seriously injured in aircraft accidents in 2024 (Table 5), which is 36% more than in 2023 (22), and 1% above the average for the period 2014 to 2023. Seventeen people were seriously injured in accidents involving commercial operations in 2024: 1 in a commercial airliner (CARs 705), 2 in commuter aircraft (CARs 704), 11 in the air taxi sector (CARs 703), 2 in aerial work operations (CARs 702), and 1 with a flight-training unit (CARs 406). Also, during 2024, 13 people incurred serious injuries in private operations, 12 of them in recreational operations. There were no reported serious injuries in State or other operation types.

Accident rate

Accident rate as a key safety indicator

A key indicator of air transportation safety is the aircraft accident rate, which is calculated as the number of accidents per hours flown or per number of aircraft movements (a movement can be a takeoff or a landing). Analyzing trends of accident rates for different types of operators can signal emerging safety issues associated with specific operator types and activities.

Activity data (e.g., flight hours or aircraft movements) broken out by operator typeThe operator types in the CARs are: airline operations (Subpart 705), commuter operations (Subpart 704), air-taxi operations (Subpart 703), aerial work (Subpart 702), foreign air operations (Subpart 701), and private operators (Subpart 604). are required to calculate accident rates that enable trend analysis of specific operator types over time, or support comparisons across operator types or geographical regions.

Since 2021, Transport Canada is unable to provide data about hours flown by Canadian-registered aircraft. As such, the TSB cannot calculate an accident rate for Canadian-registered aircraft by hours flown, either for the whole fleet or any part of it.

In 2019, Statistics Canada changed the way it collected data about aircraft movements at airports in Canada. This report uses that information to provide a global accident rate for aircraft operating in Canada based on a survey of all major and selected minor airports in Canada. While this estimate includes the bulk of aircraft movements in Canada, there is a significant gap in our ability to measure activity that takes place at small airports or away from airports entirely.

Because movement data are currently not categorized by CARs subpart when tabulated by Statistics Canada, there is no differentiation between sectors (e.g., air-taxi operators, airline operators) or between different types of aircraft (e.g., airplane, helicopter, floatplane). Therefore, accident rates cannot be calculated for individual industry sectors.

Without hours-flown or movement data that are categorized by CARs subpart and aircraft type, it will be more difficult for sector stakeholders to assess risks and determine if mitigation strategies being carried out to improve safety are working.

Therefore, in 2019 the Board issued a recommendation, which remains active: the Board recommended that

Accident rate per 100 000 aircraft movements in Canada, for Canadian and foreign-registered aircraft

Although an accident rate by hours flown is not available, it is possible to measure an accident rate by other means. Statistics Canada collects information about the number of aircraft movements that take place at major and selected small airports in Canada. While these data do not include all activity—activity at many small airports is not captured, nor is off-airport activity—it can serve as an indicator of system safety for the bulk of aircraft movements in Canada.

Overall accident rate

The 2024 overall air transportation accident rate of 3.0 per 100 000 aircraft movements (Table 3 and Figure 5) is based on the 168 accidents (8% more than in 2023) in Canada involving Canadian-registered and foreign airplanes and helicopters (ultralights and other aircraft types are excluded), and the estimated 5 650 000 aircraft movements at Canadian airports (3% more than in 2023).

The accident rate has fallen from 3.7 accidents per 100 000 aircraft movements in 2015 to a low of 2.7 in both 2018 and 2022. To test whether the change in rate was statistically significant, Kendall’s tau-b (τ_b) correlation was used to quantify the trend in accident rate. Kendall's τ_b correlation coefficient is a nonparametric measure of the strength and direction of association that exists between two variables. Kendall’s τ_b was calculated on the 11-year series of accident rate values by year from 2014 to 2024. For the period represented in this Summary, any linear change in the accident rate was not statistically significant (τ_b = −0.3519, p = 0.1367). However, it is worth noting that the accident rate had been consistently decreasing in the years leading up to the 2020 pandemic. Despite a small increase in 2024, the accident rate remains near historical lows.

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Fatal accident rate

As shown in Figure 5, the fatal accident rate in 2024 was 0.4 per 100 000 aircraft movements. This rate was calculated based on 23 fatal accidents in Canada involving Canadian- and foreign-registered airplanes and helicopters in 2024 (ultralights and other aircraft types are excluded). The 2024 rate is more than the 2023 rate and slightly above the 2014 to 2023 average. There is no statistically significant change in the fatal accident rate since 2014 (Kendall’s τ_b = 0.3417, p = 0.1675).

Fatality rate

In 2024, the fatality rate was 0.7 per 100 000 aircraft movements (Table 3). This rate was calculated based on 38 fatalities that resulted from accidents in Canada involving Canadian- and foreign-registered airplanes and helicopters (excluding ultralights and other aircraft types). This fatality rate is higher than the previous year’s rate (0.5) and above the average yearly rate of 0.5 between 2014 and 2023. There is no statistically significant trend in the fatality rate since 2014 (Kendall’s τ_b = 0.1557, p = 0.5227).

Dangerous goods released

The TSB recorded 4 accidents in 2024 involving a release of dangerous goods (Table 1). This is below the average of 6 per year over the previous 10 years.

Accident events and phases

For each reported accident, the TSB records one or more safety-significant events that occurred, and the phase of flight for each of these events. For example, if an airplane suffers engine power loss during takeoff (safety-significant event 1), and then returns to land and has a runway excursion during landing (safety-significant event 2), both events and their phase of flight will be recorded for statistical purposes. Tables 11 through 14 show how many accidents occurred for each event category and for each phase of flight from 2014 to 2024. Note that if a single accident involves more than one event within a phase of flight, that accident is only counted once in the phase total. Therefore, the total number of accidents for each event within a phase will not necessarily sum to the total number of accidents for a phase. For example, if an accident involves both "loss of control" and "power loss" events in the “takeoff” phase, then the accident is counted once in each event category within the phase, but only once in the overall phase total. Approximately 30% of accidents from 2014 to 2024 involved events in more than one phase of flight, so the number of accidents shown in the tables, and in Figures 6 and 7, sum to more than the total number of accidents.

Figures 6 and 7 and Tables 11 and 12 show the number of airplane and helicopter accidents by phase of flight during the period 2014 to 2024. The largest number of airplane accidents involve events that happen during the landing (999) and takeoff (424) phases of flight (Table 11 and Figure 6). Similarly, helicopter accidents (Table 12 and Figure 7) have events that occur most often during the landing (142), manoeuvringManoeuvring (i.e., low altitude/aerobatic flight operations) does not occur on all flights. (83), and takeoff (57) phases of flight. Note that for airplanes, although the landing phase produces the largest outright number of accidents, fatal accidents happen most often during the en route (52) and takeoff (52) phases, not including post-impact events (Table 13 and Figure 6). For helicopters, the en route phase was associated with the largest proportion of fatal accidents (15 of 55, or 27%). Similarly, the manoeuvring (18) phase is linked to more fatal accidents in the 11-year period than are the takeoff (5), approach (3), and landing (5) phases of flight (Table 14 and Figure 7).

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Overview of incidents

Incident counts

In 2024, a total of 817 air transportation incidents were reported in accordance with the TSB Regulations (Table 9). This represents a drop of 3% from the 839 that were reported in 2023 but is 8% above the average of 756 incidents recorded per year between 2014 and 2023. Prior to 2020, incident counts had been generally increasing, which reflected both an increase in commercial flying activity and the introduction of new TSB reporting regulations that became effective on 1 July 2014. Under these reporting requirements, air transportation incidents to be reported to the TSB were expanded to include aircraft with a maximum certificated takeoff weight greater than 2250 kg (formerly 5700 kg) and aircraft being operated with an air operator certificate issued under CARs Part VII—Commercial Air Services. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, both commercial flying activity and the number of reported incidents were greatly reduced.

Overall, 2024 saw a continued return toward pre-pandemic levels of commercial air traffic in Canada,Statistics Canada. Table 23-10-0269-01  Transportation activity indicators, Transport Canada DOI: https://doi.org/10.25318/2310026901-eng (Last accessed 19 April 2024). accompanied by an increase in reported air transportation incidents to pre-pandemic numbers. While declared emergency (374 incidents) is still the most frequently reported incident category in 2024 (Table 9 and Figure 8), it should be noted that this is something of a catch-all category for incidents where an emergency is declared and no other primary category (as set out in the TSB Regulations) applies. Risk of collision / loss of separation (ROC/LOS) incidents (91) decreased in frequency compared to 2023 and represented about 11% of all incidents in 2024. Incidents involving engine failure (75) rose in 2024 and represented about 9% of all incidents. Amongst the remaining incident types, crew—flight crew or cabin crew—were reported to have been unable to perform their duties 94 times, or in 12% of all reportable incidents in the year, up from a low of 16 incidents (3.2%) in 2021.

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The majority (71%) of reported air transportation incidents in 2024 occurred in Canada and involved Canadian-registered aircraft (Table 1). However, 156 incidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft occurred outside Canada. After a peak of 208 incidents abroad in 2023, this number is closer to (although still above) the average of 127 incidents per year outside Canada in the 10 years from 2014 to 2023.

The long-term overall increase in reportable incidents is at least partially linked to improvements in reporting culture in the airline industry, the adoption of safety management systems by many smaller commercial operators (in addition to all of the major Canadian airlines), and the increased use of electronic flight bags and portable devices, both of which make it easier for pilots to report incidents.

In part due to reporting requirements laid out in the TSB Regulations, commercial operations were the source of the vast majority (96%) of the incidents reported to the TSB in 2024 (Table 9). Almost two thirds of incidents (527 of 817) involved Canadian-registered airliners operating under CARs Subpart 705 (airline operations) (tables 9 and 10). This is down from a peak of 614 in 2017, but 17% greater than the average of 452 incidents per year from 2014 to 2023 that involved Canadian-registered airliners.

Foreign air operators (CARs 701) were involved in 77 incidents in 2024, or about 9% of all commercial incidents (Table 9). This is returning to levels recorded before the pandemic, in line with increased levels of transborder and international passenger traffic.Statistics Canada. Table 23-10-0269-01  Transportation activity indicators, Transport Canada DOI: https://doi.org/10.25318/2310026901-eng (Last accessed 19 April 2024).

Data tables