🛫 US airlines have flown passengers over two light-years without accidents

🛫 US airlines have flown passengers over two light-years without accidents

US commercial airlines have had no accidents since February 2009, equivalent to 13.3 trillion passenger miles. The total flight distance without accidents equals 535 million trips around Earth or 28 million round trips to the Moon.

Mathias Sundin
Mathias Sundin

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  • US commercial airlines have had no accidents since February 2009, equivalent to 13.3 trillion passenger miles.
  • The total flight distance without accidents equals 535 million trips around Earth or 28 million round trips to the Moon.
  • Data sharing between airlines has contributed to the high safety level in the aviation industry.

Fifteen years without airplane accidents

The last airplane accident with a US commercial airline occurred on February 12, 2009, in New York State. Since then, US airlines have transported passengers equivalent to 13.3 trillion passenger miles without any accidents, according to Our World in Data.

To understand the magnitude of this distance, it can be compared to astronomical distances. The total flight distance without accidents equals 2.3 light-years. A light-year is the distance that light travels in one year, which is 5.9 trillion miles.

If the distance between Earth and the Sun is represented by a line of 10 centimeters, the total flight distance without accidents would equal 14.3 kilometers. The flight distance is 143,208 times longer than the distance between Earth and the Sun.

Safety through open data sharing

A decisive factor for the improved safety in the US aviation industry is open data sharing. US airlines share information about all incidents that could affect passenger safety with each other. This system enables all airlines to learn from all incidents, not just those that occur within their own company.

The statistics apply to scheduled commercial flights, regulated under "Part 121" in the US. Private jets, smaller aircraft, and helicopters have had more accidents during the same period, but these are not included in the statistics for commercial airlines that most travelers use.

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