Gauging the Risk of Fatal Crashes

Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP/Getty Images

By Carol Matlack

Gauging the Risk of Fatal Crashes

Which plane has a higher rate of fatal accidents: the Boeing 737 JT8D or the Russian-built Ilyushin-76? If you guessed the Ilyushin, you're wrong. The earliest version of Boeing's 737 went out of production in 1988, but more than 500 are still in service. The wreckage shown here is from a 737 JT8D operated by Itek Air in Kyrgyzstan that crashed in August 2008, soon after the airline was barred from flying in the European Union because of a poor safety record. Such incidents help explain why this model tops the list of the most accident-prone planes. Older aircraft require more-intensive upkeep than new ones. Yet they’re often operated by airlines that may be hard pressed to pay for essential maintenance – and for training to reduce the risk of pilot error. Using data from Ascend, a London-based consultancy to the insurance industry, BusinessWeek compared the fatal accident records of big passenger jets. There are a minimum of 100 of each model in service worldwide, and the rankings do not include crashes related to terrorism. Our slide show covers planes with a range of accident rates, from most accident-prone to the least. Click on for a look.