Africa Leads In Plane Crashes Despite Fewer Flights – IATA

The International Air Transport Association has revealed that Africa recorded the highest aviation accident rate in the world in 2025, highlighting persistent safety challenges across the continent.

The disclosure was contained in the association’s latest Annual Safety Report

According to the report, Africa recorded seven aviation accidents in 2025, a decrease from the 11 accidents reported in 2024.

Despite the drop in incidents, the continent still posted the highest accident rate globally at 7.86 per million flights, though this figure was below the five-year regional average of 9.37.

The report further indicated that the continent’s fatality risk rose sharply during the period. Africa’s fatality risk increased from zero in 2024 to 2.19 per million flights in 2025, a development largely attributed to incidents involving turboprop aircraft.

The association noted that turboprops were involved in a significant proportion of accidents recorded on the continent.

It stated that “71 per cent of accidents involving African operators involved turboprops,” while the most common accident types were “runway excursions and other end state events,” where precise classification was not possible due to limited information.

In comparison with other regions, Africa’s aviation safety record remained weaker. The report said, “Asia-Pacific had six accidents in 2025, down from seven in 2024, with fatality risk stable at 0.15 per million flights. Europe recorded 11 accidents, an improvement from 12, and maintained a zero fatality risk.”

It added that “Latin America and the Caribbean reported five accidents, down from five in 2024, with fatality risk decreasing from 0.37 to 0.26 per million flights. North America saw 16 accidents, up from 14, with fatality risk increasing from zero to 0.21.”

Further regional comparisons showed that the Middle East and North Africa recorded one accident with no fatalities, while North Asia also reported one non-fatal accident, maintaining a zero fatality risk.

The Commonwealth of Independent States recorded four accidents, all involving turboprops, with fatality risk rising from zero in 2024 to 0.69.

Commenting on the findings, Director General of the association, Willie Walsh, identified airport infrastructure as a critical factor influencing the severity of aviation accidents.

“Rigid obstacles near runways increased accident severity, likely turning otherwise survivable occurrences into fatal ones.

“All airports and regulators should continuously review runway safety areas and structures near runways for compliance with global safety standards.

“Airport infrastructure and runway environments play a critical role in accident outcomes. In several events, rigid obstacles near runways increased accident severity, likely turning otherwise survivable occurrences into fatal ones,” he said.

The report also highlighted Africa’s slow pace in completing aviation accident investigations. Only 19 percent of accident reports in the region were completed in line with Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention.

In contrast, 81 percent of accident reports were completed in the Commonwealth of Independent States, while North America achieved a completion rate of 78 percent.

Walsh said, “Accident investigation helps us improve safety, but many reports are not published in a timely, complete, or accessible way… coordinated global support to strengthen investigation capabilities is needed.”

Globally, the aviation industry recorded 51 accidents among 38.7 million flights in 2025, slightly lower than the 54 accidents recorded in 2024. However, the number of fatal accidents rose to eight, resulting in 394 onboard fatalities, compared with 244 fatalities the previous year.