Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union.

E3: Transport

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The air accident data are provided to Eurostat by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). EASA as an Agency is responsible for providing common standards of safety and environmental protection in civil aviation in Europe and worldwide. It is the centerpiece of regulations creating a single European market in the aviation industry. The Agency’s responsibilities include aviation safety analysis and research for which it also collects statistics on European and worldwide aviation safety. The statistics are grouped according to type of operation, such as commercial air transport or general aviation, and aircraft category, such as aeroplanes, helicopters or gliders.

The EASA manages and is responsible for the entire data collection.

In Eurobase, the following data are available:

• Air accident victims in commercial air transport, by country of occurrence and country of registration of aircraft (source: EASA) (tran_sf_aviaca);
• Air accident victims in aerial works, by country of occurrence and country of registration of aircraft (source: EASA) (tran_sf_aviaaw);
• Air accident victims in general aviation, by country of occurrence and country of registration of aircraft – maximum take-off mass above 2250 kg (source: EASA) (tran_sf_aviagah);
• Air accident victims in general aviation, by country of occurrence and country of registration of aircraft – maximum take-off mass under 2250 kg (source: EASA) (tran_sf_aviagal).

Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 of the European Parliament and the Council of 20 October 2010 on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation, repealing Directive 94/56/EC, takes into account the Convention on International Civil Aviation signed in Chicago on 7 December 1944 and implements the latest provisions set in ICAO Annex 13 laying down international standards and recommended practices for aircraft accident and incident investigation. It defines common principles governing the safety investigation of civil aviation accidents and incidents in EU Member States and requires the State of Occurrence or the State of Registry, to investigate accidents and incidents.

The European Aviation Safety Agency has established a Network of Analysts (NoA) to provide a formal process to analyse safety data at a European Level. In its early stages, the membership of the NoA will be drawn from the National Aviation Authorities (NAAs) and Investigation Authorities of all EASA Member States.

The statistics are grouped according to the type of operation: commercial air transport, aerial work and general aviation.

The EASA 'Annual Safety Review' (see point 3.1) covers almost all civil aviation activities showing how diverse they can be; from the regular aeroplane flights from one city to another, to a helicopter medical emergency flight in a remote location.

Military aviation and state flights are excluded, except where military and state flights are involved with civil aviation accidents.

As foreseen by the legal act establishing the EASA, an Annual Safety Review (see point 3.1) is compiled by EASA to inform the public of the general safety level in the field of civil aviation. To prepare these reviews, the Agency had access to accident information collected by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) through its Accident/Incident Data Reporting (ADREP) system as well as accident statistics published by ICAO.

An accident is defined as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked, in which:

a) a person is fatally or seriously injured as a result of:

— being in the aircraft, or

— direct contact with any part of the aircraft, including parts which have become detached from the aircraft,

or

— direct exposure to jet blast,

except when the injuries are from natural causes, self-inflicted or inflicted by other persons, or when the injuries are to stowaways hiding outside the areas normally available to the passengers and crew; or

b) the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure which:

— adversely affects the structural strength, performance or flight characteristics of the aircraft, and

— would normally require major repair or replacement of the affected component, except for engine failure or damage, when the damage is limited to the engine, its cowlings or accessories; or for damage limited to propellers, wing tips, antennas, tires, brakes, fairings, small dents or puncture holes in the aircraft skin; or

c) the aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible.

Note 1.— For statistical uniformity only, an injury resulting in death within thirty days of the date of the accident is classified as a fatal injury by ICAO.

Note 2.— An aircraft is considered to be missing when the official search has been terminated and the wreckage has not been located.

• Commercial air transport: an aircraft operation involving the transport of passengers, cargo or mail for remuneration or hire.
• Aerial work: an aircraft operation in which an aircraft is used for specialised services such as agriculture, construction, photography, surveying, observation and patrol, search and rescue, or aerial advertisement.
• General aviation: all civilian flying except scheduled passenger and cargo airlines, air taxi and aerial work operations. General aviation includes operation:
• Above 2 250 kg: Business aviation (ICAO definition)
• Below 2 250kg: Non-commercial business aviation e.g. owned aircraft operated for professional purposes; Pleasure flying; Instructional flying; Air shows.

In only a few cases, injuries and fatalities on the ground are registered. These cases are included and attributed to the relevant aviation category.

In the various Eurobase tables, the dimension VICTIM has three positions:

• INJ corresponds to persons that sustained minor injuries in an air accident.

Minor injuries can be considered as less than anything mentioned in the definition for serious injuries.

• INJ_SRL corresponds to persons that sustained serious injuries in an air accident.

These are injuries which is sustained by a person in an accident and which:

a) requires hospitalisation for more than 48 hours, commencing within seven days from the

date the injury was received;

b) results in a fracture of any bone (except simple fractures of fingers, toes or nose);

c) involves lacerations which cause severe haemorrhage, nerve, muscle or tendon damage;

d) involves injury to any internal organ;

e) involves second or third degree burns, or any burns affecting more than 5 per cent of the body surface; or

f) involves verified exposure to infectious substances or harmful radiation.

• KIL corresponds to persons which lost their lives in an air accident.

An injury which is sustained by a person in an accident and which results in his death within 30 days of the date of the accident.

The dimension C_REGIS (country of registration of aircraft) contains the position

• NEASA: the aircraft is not registered in any of the EASA Member States, but the accident occurred in one of the countries listed. EASA does not investigate accident data of non-EASA registered aircraft outside the territories of EASA Member States.

The dimension GEO (country where the accident occurred) contains the position

OTH: the accident did not occur in one of the EASA Member States but elsewhere in the world but it involved an aircraft registered in one of the EASA Member States.

The data used in the domain are collected by the national data providers at accident level and made available and sent to the EASA.

All accident occurrences recorded by the responsible national authorities.

The EASA countries cover the 27 EU Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and United Kingdom (until 2020).

For Commercial Air Transport and General aviation above 2250 kg maximum take-off mass, data are available from 1990 onwards.

For the Aerial work and General Aviation under 2250 kg maximum take-off mass, the first reference year is 2006. Data prior to 2006 for these categories are less reliable.

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The unit of measure is the number of persons that have been sustained minor or serious injuries or that were killed in air accidents.

Data is initially collected by the competent national authorities of the EASA Member States at accident level. Data are made available to the EASA where both EASA and the Network of Analysts (NoA) provide a formal process to analyse safety data at a European Level.

Data in Eurobase are available on annual basis.

Basis for the activities of the EASA is Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Union Aviation Safety Agency, and amending Regulations (EC) No 2111/2005, (EC) No 1008/2008, (EU) No 996/2010, (EU) No 376/2014 and Directives 2014/30/EU and 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 552/2004 and (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91

Accident data appear in the Annual Safety Review published by EASA, as required by Article 72(7) of the above-mentioned Regulation (EU) 2018/1139.

Article 72 (1) of the Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 mentions: The Commission, the Agency and the national competent authorities shall exchange any information available to them in the context of the application of this Regulation and of the delegated and implementing acts adopted on the basis thereof, which is relevant to the other parties for the performance of their tasks under this Regulation. The competent authorities of the Member States entrusted with the investigation of civil aviation accidents and incidents, or with the analysis of occurrences, shall also be entitled to access to that information for the performance of their tasks.

Accident data is obtained from Agency databases comprised of data from ICAO, EASA Member States, Eurocontrol and the aviation industry.

Data included in the Annual Safety Review come from a variety of different sources, covering accident and serious incident data as well as contributions from national aviation authorities, Eurocontrol, EUROSTAT, Ascend and the ICAO Safety Indicators Study Group.

The Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 stipulates that EASA shall ensure appropriate protection of the information, including of any personal data contained therein (article 72(2))

All data released by the EASA are not confidential. Hence, this also applies to the data available in the various Eurobase tables which indicate the EASA as data source.

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In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Data is disseminated on an annual basis.

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Statistics Explained article - Air safety statistics in the EU - annual data (one update per year)

Eurostat Publication Key figures on European transport - 2022 edition

EASA Annual Safety Review 2023

Please consult free data on-line (Transport/Multimodal data/Transport safety).

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EASA’s Annual Safety Review, which contains the information that is available through the Eurobase tables but also a section with definitions, is available online, through the following link:

https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/document-library/general-publications/annual-safety-review-2023

See 11.1

The information on air accidents are high level, and due to its relative rarity, these do not need statistical testing. In its cooperation with the EASA, it was agreed that Eurostat would not alter the EASA data received.

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Statistics on air accident injuries and fatalities are often available only for commercial aviation, and then again only for large airline companies. The data made available by the EASA add a few other categories, namely the injuries and fatalities that have occurred in the framework of aerial works and in general aviation (with a differentiation in 2 aircraft weight classes).

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Data for Commercial Aviation and General aviation above 2250 kg maximum take-off mass are very complete. Data for the other aviation categories are less consistent for earlier years; hence, the relevant tables only include data from 2006 onwards.

Overall accuracy of data is very good as strictly the same concepts and definitions are applied by the EASA Member States.

Data for the last two reference years available are marked as provisional. This is linked to ongoing investigations. Investigations may take as long as three years. Data corrections for those years therefore remain possible.

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EASA publishes its data around 6 months after the end of the last reference period. These data become available in Eurobase around 10 months after the end of the last reference period.

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By using EASA data, similar data collections by Eurostat can be avoided, thus reducing the reporting burden. The inclusion of EASA data in Eurostat’s dissemination database should therefore be seen in the framework of streamlining efforts.

The general Eurostat revision policy applies to this domain.

All reported errors (once validated) result in corrections of the disseminated data. Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated and transmitted by EASA.

Data may be published even if they are flagged as provisional for certain countries. They are replaced with final data once they are validated and transmitted by EASA. Whenever new data are provided and validated, the already disseminated data are updated.

Data are collected and/or compiled by the National Safety Authorities at single accident level. Information is then transmitted to the EASA, which is in charge of the compilation at annual intervals.

Annual

For the EASA data available in Eurobase, data are made available by the EASA as an annual extraction from their database. Eurostat calculates EU aggregates and prepares the data files for uploading in Eurobase.

Data are high level and do not need statistical testing. Data validation procedures are applied by the EASA. Eurostat takes over the data as such and does not apply any supplementary validation procedures.

Data compilations are performed by the EASA, with the exception of some EU aggregates that are calculated by Eurostat.

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