THE SOCIAL COSTS OF AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS

There is a large interest in aviation accidents and aircraft accident prevention. There are also substantial differences in accidents and accident rates among various aviation segments when one looks at the small single-engine airplane flown for pleasure to the aircraft operated by the large airlines. One of the more important differences is that air carriers holding an operating certificate are obligated to operated at the highest level of safety while private aircraft operations are assumed, at least implicitly, to involve some self-assumption of risk. The data bear these differences out. This paper examines fatal aircraft accidents and activity in different segments of private and commercial aviation over a seven-year period. It tabulates the number of flight hours, the number of fatalities and the cost to society of these fatalities. It calculates fatal accident rates on a per flight-hour basis and fatal accident costs as a percentage of variable and total operating costs. There are marked differences among the various aviation segments. The paper raises interesting questions for policymakers about the potential benefits of safety investments and the appropriate level of risk in various aviation segments.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Forum

  One Farragut Square South, Suite 500
  Washington, DC  United States  20006-4003
• Authors:
  • Golaszewski, Richard
  • Helledy, Gregson
• Conference:
  • Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Forum
  • Location: Annapolis, Maryland
  • Date: 2000-11-29 to 2000-12-1
• Publication Date: 2000

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 717-725

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air transportation crashes; Aircraft operations; Aviation safety; Costs; Crash data; Data collection; Fatalities; Policy making; Private aircraft; Social benefits
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Finance; Policy; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00804803
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 11 2001 12:00AM