Air transportation occurrences in 2019

The TSB gathers and uses transportation occurrence data during the course of its investigations to analyze safety deficiencies and identify risks in the Canadian air transportation system.

It should be noted that certain characteristics of the data constrain statistical analysis and 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 aeroplane 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 2019 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 05 March 2020. 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.

Overview of accidents and fatalities

Accident counts

Air transportation occurrences are reportable to the TSB if they occur in Canada or if they involve Canadian-registered aircraft, and meet the criteria laid out in the TSB Regulations.

In 2019, a total of 226 air transportation accidents were reported to the TSB (Table 1 and Figure 1). This number is higher than the previous year’s total of 201 accidents but 12% fewer than the average of 258 reported in the prior 10 years 2009–2018. Most (209) of the accidents in 2019 took place in Canada and involved Canadian-registered aircraft. Ten accidents in Canada involved foreign-registered aircraft, and 8 accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft took place outside Canada. In general, the number of air transportation accidents has been decreasing in the last decade.

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There were 199 accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft (excluding ultralights) in 2019 (Table 2). This is above the 2018 count of 173 accidents, but still 11% below the average of 223 accidents in the preceding 10 years 2009–2018. If the 18 accidents involving ultralights are included in the count, there were 217 accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft in 2019.

Aircraft type

Of the 226 air transportation accidents reported to the TSB last year, 176 (78%) involved fixed-wing, powered aeroplanes (other than ultralights) (Table 1), 28 (12%) involved helicopters, 18 (8%) involved ultralights, and 5 accidents (2%) involved other types of aircraft. From 2009 to 2018, the proportion of accidents involving each of these 4 types of aircraft has remained fairly constant: aeroplanes have been involved in roughly 75% of reportable accidents each year, helicopters in about 12% of accidents, ultralights in about 10%, and other aircraft in about 3% of accidents each year.

Operator type

There were 83 accidents that involved commercially-operated aircraft in 2019 (Table 1). This is more than the 66 such accidents recorded in 2018, but still 6% below the average of 88 accidents recorded in the 10 years 2009–2018.

Commercially-operated Canadian-registered aeroplanes were involved in 66 accidents in 2019 (Table 2), and 7 of those involved operations under Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) Subpart 705, which certificates the operation of airliners. This is fewer than the 8 accidents involving Canadian-registered airliners in 2018, but still above the average of 5.5 per year recorded from 2009 to 2018. In 2019, the TSB conducted formal investigations into 4 of the 7 accidents in that year that involved airliners. Two investigations were detailed Class 3 investigations (a collision on the ground, and a runway side excursion), and 2 were Class 4 investigations that were limited in scope (a forced landing after engine failure, and an abnormal runway contact).

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Also in 2019, there were 4 accidents involving Canadian-registered commuter aeroplanes operating under CARs Subpart 704 (Table 2), as well as 26 accidents involving air taxi operations (CARs Subpart 703)—21 involving aeroplanes and 5 involving helicopters. These 26 air taxi accidents are up slightly from the 23 seen in 2018, but still fewer than the average of 33 accidents per year between 2009 and 2018. Flight training units operating under CARs Subpart 406 were involved in 25 accidents in 2019 comprising 23 aeroplanes, 1 helicopter, and 1 ultralight. This is slightly above the average of 22 accidents per year for the period 2009 to 2018.

Overall, 142 air transportation accidents involved non-commercial (i.e., private aircraft) operations (Table 1), compared to 134 in the preceding year. This is 13% below the annual average of 163 accidents from 2009 to 2018. Of the 142 total accidents in the non-commercial (private aircraft) operations category, 101 involved Canadian-registered aeroplanes (Table 2), and 4 of 101 were operating under CARs Subpart 604 with a Private Operator Registration Document (PORD).

Most operators of non-commercial (private) aircraft are classified as recreational operators. Recreational operators are responsible for a significant amount of flying activity in Canada and abroad, and are involved in many accidents each year. In 2019, 131 accidents involved recreational operators (Table 1). This figure is up 7 from 124 in the previous year, but still 17% below the average (156) for the period 2009–2018.

In addition to commercial and private operations, 1 state-operated aircraft was involved in an accident in 2019. The aircraft was operated by a provincial government to perform fire-fighting operations.

Province or territory

Ontario, with 52 reported accidents (all aircraft types, including ultralights), was the province with the largest number of reported accidents in 2019, as it was in the previous 2 years (Table 7). Ontario also averaged more accidents per year (65) in the 2009–2018 period than any other province or territory, with Quebec having the second-largest average accident count (56) for the same period. British Columbia and Alberta also have high average accident counts compared with the remaining provinces and territories.

Eight accidents that were reportable under TSB Regulations occurred outside Canada in 2019.

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The number of accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft by province or territory (Table 8) is shown in Figure 3. There were 45 accidents reported in Ontario involving Canadian-registered aircraft in 2019, which is 17% below the average number (54) for the years 2009 to 2018. New Brunswick (included in “Atlantic” in Figure 3) had more accidents (8) than was seen on average (3) over the previous 10 years.

Fatal accidents, fatalities, and serious injuries

The TSB recorded 70 fatalities in 33 fatal air transportation accidents in 2019 (tables 1 and 4). This is up considerably from 38 fatalities in the 23 fatal accidents in 2018, and is higher than the corresponding averages of 52 fatalities in 30 fatal accidents over the ten years 2009–2018. Of 33 fatal accidents in 2019, 27 involved fixed-wing, powered aeroplanes, 3 involved helicopters, 3 involved ultralight aircraft, and 1 involved a glider.

Four fatal accidents in 2019, accounting for 11 fatalities, involved foreign-registered aircraft operating in Canada (Table 1). One fatal accident resulting in 2 fatalities occurred outside Canada (in the United States) (Table 4).

Excluding ultralights, there were 26 fatal accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft in 2019, up from 21 in the preceding year and equal to the average in 2009–2018 (Table 2 and Figure 4). However, the number of fatalities in those accidents was 54, which is more than the 36 reported in 2018 and 17% above the average of 46 in  the preceding 10-year period.

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Twenty-five of the 70 aviation fatalities in 2019 involved commercial operations (Table 4): 21 of them under air taxi regulations (CARs 703), 3 under aerial work (CARs 702), and 1 in flight training operations (CARs 406). There were no fatalities involving airliner operations (CARs 705) or commuter operations (CARs 704) in 2019. The remaining 45 (of 70) fatalities in 2019 were linked to private operations, mostly involving recreational operators, with none involving an operator holding a PORD (CARs 604).

With regards to type of aircraft, 58 of 70 fatalities in 2019 resulted from accidents in fixed-wing powered aeroplanes (Table 4). Helicopter accidents resulted in 5 fatalities, as did ultralight accidents. There were also 2 fatalities in one glider accident. Of the 70 total fatalities, 34 were crew members and 36 were aircraft passengers. There were no fatalities among persons on the ground in 2019.

Overall, 31 persons received serious injuries in aircraft accidents in 2019 (Table 5),  slightly more than the 28 persons seriously injured in 2018, and just below the average of 34 in the period 2009–2018. Thirteen persons received serious injuries in accidents involving commercial operations in 2019: 1 in an airliner (CARs 705), 8 in air taxi operations (CARs 703), 2 related to aerial work (CARs 702), and 2 with flight-training units (CARs 406). Also in 2019, 18 persons incurred serious injuries in private operations, all of which were classified as recreational operations.

Accident rates

Accident rate as a key safety indicator

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

Activity data (e.g., flight hours) broken out by operator type is required to calculate the accident rates that enable trend analysis of specific operator types over time, or comparisons across operator types or geographical regions.

Until 2010, Transport Canada provided activity data broken out by operator type, and the TSB used these data to calculate and publish accident rates across operator types. In 2010, however, Transport Canada informed the TSB that it would no longer provide hours-flown activity data breakouts by operator type, because it had concerns regarding the accuracy of those data. The data were reported to Transport Canada by the commercial operators who were allowed to report all hours under the most restrictive subpart of the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs), even if they conducted operations under more than one subpart.

Reporting all hours for all subparts under a single total conflates and confounds airline and commuter activity, as well as the activity of many smaller aviation operators that may carry out operations under multiple subparts of the CARs (commuter, air taxi, and/or aerial work) and report their activity as a single total. Furthermore, the movement data as presently reported by Statistics Canada come from a survey that covers all aircraft movements at Canadian airports, with or without NAV CANADA air traffic control towers and flight service stations.

Because hours-flown and movement data are currently not categorized by CARs subpart when collected by the government, the rate data calculated is for the aviation sector as a whole; there is no differentiation between sectors (e.g., air-taxi operators versus airline operators) or between different types of aircraft (airplane, helicopter, floatplane). Therefore, the accident rate cannot be calculated for any single sector.

Without hours-flown and 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 actually working.

Therefore, in 2019 the Board recommended that

Accident rate for Canadian-registered aircraft, in Canada and abroad, per 100 000 hours flown

Overall accident rate

Transport Canada collects information about the number of hours flown by Canadian-registered aircraft. The 2019 overall air transportation accident rate of 3.7 per 100 000 hours flown (Table 3a) was calculated based on the 195 accidents in Canada and abroad involving Canadian-registered aeroplanes and helicopters (excluding ultralights and other aircraft types) and the estimated 5 201 000 hours flown by Canadian-registered aircraft.   This rate is above the 2018 rate of 3.3 accidents per 100 000 flight hours, but below the average rate of 4.9 accidents per 100 000 hours flown each year over the previous 10 years.

An encouraging observation is that the accident rate for Canadian-registered aircraft has fallen from 6.3 accidents per 100 000 hours flown in 2009 to 3.7 in 2019, a reduction of 41%. Kendall’s tau-b correlation and Sen’s estimate of slope were used to quantify the trend in Canadian-registered aircraft accident rate and fatal accident rate. Kendall's tau-b (τb) correlation coefficient is a nonparametric measure of the strength and direction of association that exists between two variables. Kendall’s τb was calculated on the 11-year series of accident rate values by year from 2009 to 2019. There was a strong, negative correlation that indicates a downward trend in accident rate per 100 000 hours flown over the period (τb = −0.8441, p = 0.0003). Sen’s estimate of slope, the amount of downward rate change per year, was −0.257 occurrences per 100 000 hours flown per year. A graphical illustration is presented in Figure 5.

Fatal accidents

Figure 5 also illustrates a trend line for fatal accidents. For the 26 fatal accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft in 2019, the fatal accident rate was 0.5 per 100 000 hours flown. That rate is up slightly from the 2018 rate of 0.4, and is below the 2009 to 2018 average of 0.6 fatal accidents per 100 000 hours flown. Although there is a downward trend to the series of fatal accident rates since 2009 (Kendall’s τb = −0.5829, p = 0.0185), the slope of the trend is quite small: Sen’s estimate of slope is −0.033 fatal accidents per 100 000 hours flown per year.

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Fatalities

In 2019, 54 fatalities resulted from accidents involving Canadian-registered aeroplanes and helicopters (excluding ultralights), yielding a rate of 1.0 fatalities per 100 000 hours flown. This fatality rate is higher than the 2018 rate of 0.7, and equal to the average yearly rate of 1.0 from 2009 to 2018. Like the accident rate and fatal accident rate, the fatality rate per 100 000 hours flown has shown a downward trend since 2009 (Kendall’s τb = −0.5984, p = 0.0118). The rate of change (Sen’s estimate) is −0.100 fatalities per 100 000 hours flown per year.

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

An alternate method for calculating the accident rate is to compare the accident count to the number of aircraft movements during a year (Table 3b). An aircraft movement is a takeoff, landing, or simulated approach by an aircraft, as defined by NAV CANADA. Statistics Canada collects movement information for all aircraft taking off from or landing at Canadian airports. There were 196 accidents in Canada in 2019 involving Canadian-registered and foreign aircraft (excluding ultralights). This is up from the previous year (167) and equivalent to the level seen in 2016 and 2017. The number of aircraft movements in Canada in 2019 was estimated to be 6 408 000, yielding a rate of 3.1 accidents per 100 000 movements, which is above the 2018 rate of 2.7 accidents per 100 000 movements, but still below the average rate of 3.5 over the previous 10 years. In 2019, 63 fatalities resulted from accidents involving aeroplanes and helicopters in Canada, yielding a rate of 1.0 fatalities per 100 000 movements of those aircraft types.

Dangerous goods released

Eight accidents in 2019 involved a release of dangerous goods. This is comparable to the numbers for the preceding 3 years, and slightly above the average of 4 per year over the previous 10 years.

Accident events and phases

For each reported accident, the TSB records 1 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), each of the two events and their phase of flight will be recorded for statistical purposes. Tables 11 through 14 show, by phase of flight, how many accidents occurred for each event type, from 2009 to 2019. 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, in the "takeoff" phase, if an accident involves both "loss of control" and "power loss" events, the accident is counted once in each event category within the phase, but only once in the overall phase total. As well, approximately 22% of aeroplane accidents and 30% of helicopter accidents from 2009 to 2019 involved events in more than a single 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.

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Figures 6 and 7 show the number of aeroplane and helicopter accidents by phase of flight and event category. Over the past 11 years (2009–2019), the distribution of aeroplane accidents (Figure 6) shows more accidents having events during the landing phase (56% of aeroplane accidents) or takeoff phase (24%) than in other phases of flight. Helicopter accidents (Figure 7) had events occurring more often during the landing (42%), manoeuvering (24%), and en route (20%) phases of flight. Note that for both aeroplanes and helicopters, although the landing phase is associated with the largest number of accidents, the en route, takeoff, and approach phases are associated with larger numbers of fatal accidents, and maneuvering with the largest proportion of fatal accidents.

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Overview of incidents

Incident counts

In 2019, 911 air transportation incidents were reported under the TSB Regulations (Table 9). This represents an increase of 51 reportable incidents (6%) from 860 in 2018, and is 17% above the average of 777 incidents per year between 2009 and 2018. The apparent increase in incidents over the past few years is partly explained by the introduction of new regulations that became effective July 1, 2014. Under those reporting requirements, aviation incidents to be reported to the TSB were expanded to include those involving aircraft with a maximum certificated takeoff weight greater than 2250 kg (formerly 5700 kg) and aircraft being operated under an air operator certificate issued under CARs Part VII—Commercial Air Services.

Overall, reported incidents gradually decreased in number from 2009 until about 2013, but over the most recent five years that number has increased back to approximately the same level as in 2008. The same general pattern (a few years of decreasing counts, followed by several years of increase) is evident since 2009 in the two most common incident categories: declared emergency, which accounted for 40% of reported incidents in 2019, and risk of collision/loss of separation, which made up 15% of reported incidents in 2019 (Figure 8). Engine failures made up 11% of incidents, while smoke/fire incidents were 10% of all incidents in 2019. Crew were reported to have been unable to perform their duties 87 times, or in 10% of all reportable incidents in the year. This category includes both flight crew and cabin crew. While the number of reported incidents in this category has been increasing in recent years, part of the increase may be tied to an improved reporting culture in the airline industry.

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The majority of air transportation incidents in 2019 (651) occurred in Canada and involved Canadian-registered aircraft (Table 1). However, 181 incidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft occurred outside Canada in 2019, a number that has increased sharply since 2015 to a peak of 181 in 2017 and again in 2019, and contrasts with an average of 85 per year in the previous 10 years. Declared emergency and risk of collision/loss of separation were the two most common incident types involving Canadian-registered aircraft outside of Canada. Both of these incident types, while not showing a monotonic trend over the 11-year period of this report, have increased in frequency in a statistically significant manner over the past 5 years. The increase in reportable incidents generally is at least partially linked to improvements in reporting culture in the airline industry, and the adoption of safety management systems (SMS) 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 95% of the incidents reported to the TSB in 2019 (Table 9). Two-thirds of these involved Canadian-registered airliners operating under CARs Subpart 705. There were 569 incidents reported in 2019 involving Canadian-registered airliners, down 45 from a peak of 614 in 2017 but still 18% above the average of 484 incidents per year 2009–2018.

Foreign air operators (CARs 701) were involved in 85 incidents in 2019, or about 10% of commercial incidents. This is down by half from the 170 incidents reported in 2010.

Data tables