Air transportation occurrences in 2023

Executive summary

The TSB received 1020 reports of air occurrences in 2023 (182 accidents and 838 incidents), including 33 fatalities.

A total of 182 accidents were reported in 2023. This number is 10% higher than the previous year and 17% below the yearly average of 220 accidents reported in the prior 10 years, 2013 to 2022. Most (169) of the accidents in 2023 took place in Canada and involved Canadian-registered aircraft. In general, the number of air transportation accidents has decreased in the last decade.

The TSB recorded 19 fatal air transportation accidents involving 33 fatalities in 2023. This is down slightly from 2022 and is 24% below the average of 25 fatal accidents involving 40 fatalities over the ten years 2013 to 2022. Thirteen of the 33 air transportation fatalities in 2023 involved commercial operations. There were no fatalities involving airliner operations (CARs 705), or commuter operations (CARs 704) in 2023. The remaining 20 (of 33) fatalities in 2023 were linked to privately registered aircraft and involved recreational operators. Two accidents in 2023 involved a release of dangerous goods.

The 2023 overall air transportation accident rate of 2.8 per 100 000 aircraft movements is among the lowest recorded by the TSB since it began measuring accident rate by movements in 2004. This accident rate was calculated based on the 156 accidents (12% more than in 2022) in Canada involving Canadian-registered and foreign airplanes and helicopters (ultralights and other aircraft types are excluded), and the estimated 5 502 000 aircraft movements at Canadian airports (6% more than in 2022).

Air transportation occurrences in 2023

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) gathers and uses transportation occurrence^{Footnote 1} data during the course of its investigations to analyze safety deficiencies and identify risks in the Canadian air transportation system.

This statistical summary serves to describe the accident, incident, and injury counts that are presented in the included Tables. It provides limited discussion and some context but is not intended to be an in-depth analysis of the data.

It should be noted that certain characteristics of the data constrain statistical analysis and the identification of emerging trends. These include the small totals of accidents and incidents, the large variability in the data from year to year, and changes to regulations and definitions. The reader is cautioned to keep these limitations in mind when reading this summary to avoid drawing conclusions that cannot be supported by statistical analysis.

Throughout this document, there are instances where categories of occurrences sum to more than the total number of occurrences. For example, if a single occurrence involves an airplane^{Footnote 2} and a glider, the occurrence count will increase by one in each aircraft category but the occurrence itself will be counted only once in the total of occurrences.

The 2023 data were collected according to the reporting requirements described in the Transportation Safety Board Regulations in force during that calendar year.

The statistics presented here reflect the TSB Aviation Safety Information System (ASIS) database at 12 March 2024. Since the occurrence data are constantly being updated in the live database, the statistics may change slightly over time.

Also, as many occurrences are limited to data gathering, information recorded on some occurrences may not have been verified.

The following discussion refers to data tables contained in this document.

COVID-19 impacts on civil aviation in Canada

Air transportation in Canada continued to rebound in 2023, after 3 years of significant disruption. Year-over-year demand for business and vacation travel increased and cargo activity remained high. Information collected by Statistics Canada indicates that total aircraft movements (take-offs and landings) at Canada's major and selected small airports numbered 5.5 million, which was 5.5% higher than in 2022 and represented 89.6% of the pre-pandemic movements in 2019. While activity at Canada’s major and selected small airports is documented, it is difficult to estimate the amount of activity—commercial or private—at many small airports in Canada or off-airport entirely. Therefore, a full picture of activity in the aviation industry is lacking. Nonetheless, the activity patterns discussed here are indicative, and give partial context to the accident statistics presented in this document.

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Overview of accidents and fatalities

Accident counts

Air transportation occurrences (both accidents and incidents)^{Footnote 4} are reportable to the TSB if they occur in Canada. Occurrences that take place outside of Canada are also reportable if they involve Canadian-registered aircraft, and meet the criteria laid out in the TSB Regulations.^{Footnote 5}

In 2023, a total of 182 air transportation accidents were reported to the TSB (Table 1 and Figure 2). This number is 10% higher than the previous year’s total of 166 accidents and 17% below the yearly average of 220 accidents reported in the prior 10 years, 2013 to 2022. Most (169) of the accidents in 2023 took place in Canada and involved Canadian-registered aircraft. Seven accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft took place outside Canada, and 6 accidents in Canada involved a foreign-registered aircraft. In general, the number of air transportation accidents has been decreasing in the last decade.

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There were 159 accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft (excluding ultralights) in 2023 (Table 2). This is 9% above the 2022 count of 146 accidents, but 34% below the average of 193 accidents in the preceding 10 years (2013 to 2022). If the 17 accidents involving ultralights are included in the count, there were 176 accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft in 2023.

Aircraft type

Of the 182 air transportation accidents reported to the TSB in 2023, 131 (72%) involved fixed-wing, powered airplanes (other than ultralights) (Table 1), 32 (18%) involved helicopters, 17 (9%) involved ultralights, and 2 accidents (1%) involved all other types of aircraft, such as balloons, gyroplanes, gliders, airships, hang gliders, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In the 10 years from 2013 to 2022, the average proportion of accidents involving each of these four categories of aircraft has remained constant: in each year, airplanes have been involved in roughly 75% of reportable accidents, helicopters in about 12%, ultralights in about 9%, and other aircraft in about 3%.

Operator type

There were 77 accidents that involved commercially operated aircraft of all types in 2023 (Table 1). This is 38% more than the 56 such accidents recorded in 2022, and 6% above the average of 72 accidents recorded in the 10 years from 2013 to 2022.

Commercially operated Canadian-registered airplanes were involved in 50 accidents in 2023 (Table 2 and Figure 3). Of those, 6 involved operations under Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) Subpart 705 (airliners). This is greater than the 4 accidents involving Canadian-registered airliners in 2022, and the same as the average of 6 accidents per year recorded from 2013 to 2022.

Figure 3. Accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft, excluding ultralights, by aircraft type and operation type in 2023, compared with the 2013 to 2022 average.

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In 2023, there were 2 accidents involving a Canadian-registered commuter airplane operating under CARs Subpart 704 (Table 2), as well as 25 accidents involving air taxi operations (CARs Subpart 703)—13 involving airplanes and 12 involving helicopters. The 25 air taxi accidents are more than double those reported in 2022 (12) and are slightly above the average of 24 accidents per year occurring between 2013 and 2022. Flight training units operating under CARs Subpart 406 were involved in 25 accidents in 2023, of which 23 involved airplanes and 2 involved a helicopter. On average for the period 2013 to 2022, flight training units were involved in about 19 airplane and 1 helicopter accidents per year.

Overall, in 2023, 103 air transportation accidents involved non-commercial (i.e., private aircraft) operations (Table 1), compared to 108 in the preceding year. The 2023 total is 29% below the annual average of 144 accidents from 2013 to 2022. Of the 103 total accidents in the non-commercial (private aircraft) operations category, 76 involved Canadian-registered airplanes (Table 2), with 5 of these involving an airplane operating under CARs Subpart 604 having a Private Operator Registration Document (PORD).

Most operators of non-commercial (private) Canadian-registered aircraft are classified as recreational. Recreational operators are responsible for a significant amount of flying activity and tend to be involved in many accidents each year. In 2023, 92 accidents involved recreational operators of Canadian-registered aircraft—69 of them in fixed-wing airplanes (Table 2), 4 in helicopters, and 19 in other aircraft. These 92 accidents are 8% fewer than in the preceding year, and 31% fewer than the 10-year average number of accidents involving recreational Canadian-registered aircraft (134).

In addition to commercial and private operations, 2 accidents in 2023 involved State operators, and 1 accident was categorized as having another or unknown operation type (Table 1).

Province or territory

Ontario and British Columbia had the largest number of reported accidents in 2023, with 44 reported accidents in each province (all aircraft types, including ultralights), surpassing Quebec with 32 accidents (Table 7). Ontario averaged more accidents per year (54) in the 2013–2023 period than any other province or territory, with Quebec having the second-largest average accident count (44).

Altogether, 7 accidents that were reportable under TSB Regulations occurred outside Canada in 2023. These all involved fixed-wing airplanes: 2 were operating commercially and 5 privately (data not presented). While these 7 accidents equal the number from 2022, they are fewer than the average of 8 per year seen over the previous ten years.

When ultralights are excluded from the counts, many provinces and territories saw fewer accidents reported in 2023 than the average of the previous 10 years (Table 8 and Figure 4). Only British Columbia, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut had more than the average number of accidents.

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Fatal accidents, fatalities, and serious injuries

The TSB recorded 19 fatal air transportation accidents resulting in 33 fatalities in 2023 (tables 1 and 4, and Figure 5). This is fewer than the 24 fatal accidents in 2022 and is 24% below the average of 25 fatal accidents over the ten years from 2013 to 2022. Of the 19 fatal accidents in 2023, 11 involved fixed-wing, powered airplanes, 4 involved helicopters, and 4 involved ultralight aircraft. All 19 of these occurrences involved Canadian-registered aircraft, with 18 occurring in Canadian airspace and one occurring in the United States (Table 7).

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Thirteen of the 33 air transportation fatalities in 2023 involved commercial operations (Table 4): 4 of them under air taxi regulations (CARs 703), 4 under aerial work regulations (CARs 702), and 5 under flight training unit regulations (CARs 406). There were no fatalities involving airliner operations (CARs 705), or commuter operations (CARs 704). The remaining 20 fatalities were linked to privately registered aircraft and involved recreational operators. None of these involved an operator holding a Private Operator Registration Document (PORD) (CARs 604).

With regards to type of aircraft, 24 of 33 fatalities in 2023 resulted from accidents in fixed-wing powered airplanes, 5 from helicopter accidents, and 4 from ultralights (Table 4). Of the 33 total fatalities, 19 were pilots or crew members, 12 were aircraft passengers, and 2 were among persons on the ground.

Overall, 22 persons were seriously injured in aircraft accidents in 2023 (Table 5), which is 37% fewer than in 2022, and 25% below the average for the period 2013 to 2022. Seven persons were seriously injured in accidents involving commercial operations in 2023: none in airliners (CARs 705), 1 in a commuter aircraft (CARs 704), 3 in the air taxi sector (CARs 703), 2 in aerial work operations (CARs 702), and 1 with a flight-training unit (CARs 406). Also, during 2023, 13 persons incurred serious injuries in recreational operations. Two more people were injured in other operation types, including State-operated aircraft.

Accident rate

Accident rate as a key safety indicator

A key indicator of air transportation safety is the aircraft accident rate, which is calculated as the number of accidents per hours flown or per number of aircraft movements (a movement can be a takeoff or a landing). Analyzing trends of accident rates for different types of operators can signal emerging safety issues associated with specific operator types and activities.

Activity data (e.g., flight hours) broken out by operator type^{Footnote 6} are required to calculate accident rates that enable trend analysis of specific operator types over time, or support comparisons across operator types or geographical regions.

Until 2010, Transport Canada provided activity data broken out by operator type, and the TSB used these data to calculate and publish accident rates across operator types. From 2010 onward, Transport Canada no longer provided hours-flown activity data breakouts by operator type, because of its concerns regarding the accuracy of those data, which, for some operators that operated under more than one subpart of the CARs, were collectively reported only under the most restrictive CARs subpart. For 2023, Transport Canada was unable to provide any data about hours flown by Canadian-registered aircraft. As such, the TSB cannot calculate an accident rate for Canadian-registered aircraft by hours flown, either for the whole fleet or any part of it.

In 2019, Statistics Canada changed the way it collected data about aircraft movements at airports in Canada, and this report uses that information to provide a global accident rate for aircraft operating in Canada based on a survey of all major and selected minor airports in Canada. While this estimate includes the bulk of aircraft movements in Canada, there is a significant gap in our ability to measure activity that takes place at small airports or away from airports entirely.

Because movement data are currently not categorized by CARs subpart when tabulated by Statistics Canada, there is no differentiation between sectors (e.g., air-taxi operators, airline operators) or between different types of aircraft (e.g., airplane, helicopter, floatplane). Therefore, accident rates cannot be calculated for individual industry sectors.

Without hours-flown or movement data that are categorized by CARs subpart and aircraft type, it will be more difficult for sector stakeholders to assess risks and determine if mitigation strategies being carried out to improve safety are working.

Therefore, in 2019 the Board issued a recommendation, which remains active: the Board recommended that

the Department of Transport require all commercial operators to collect and report hours flown and movement data for their aircraft by Canadian Aviation Regulations subpart and aircraft type, and that the Department of Transport publish those data.

TSB Recommendation A19-05

Accident rate per 100 000 aircraft movements in Canada, for Canadian and foreign-registered aircraft

Although an accident rate by hours flown is not available, it is possible to measure an accident rate by other means. Statistics Canada collects information about the number of aircraft movements that take place at major and selected small airports in Canada. While these data do not include all activity—activity at many small airports is not captured, nor is off-airport activity—it can serve as an indicator of system safety for the bulk of aircraft movements in Canada.

Overall accident rate

The 2023 overall air transportation accident rate of 2.8 per 100 000 aircraft movements (Table 3 and Figure 6) is among the lowest recorded by the TSB since it began measuring an accident rate by movements in 2004. This accident rate was calculated based on the 156 accidents (12% more than in 2022) in Canada involving Canadian-registered and foreign airplanes and helicopters (ultralights and other aircraft types are excluded), and the estimated 5 502 000 aircraft movements at Canadian airports (6% more than in 2022).

The accident rate has fallen from 3.9 accidents per 100 000 aircraft movements in 2013 to a low of 2.7 in both 2018 and 2022. To test whether the change in rate was statistically significant, Kendall’s tau-b (τb) correlation was used to quantify the trend in accident rate. Kendall's τb correlation coefficient is a nonparametric measure of the strength and direction of association that exists between two variables. Kendall’s τb was calculated on the 11-year series of accident rate values by year from 2013 to 2023. For the period represented in this Summary, any linear change in the accident rate was not statistically significant (τb = −0.4182, p = 0.0734). However, it is worth noting that the accident rate had been consistently decreasing in the years leading up to the 2020 pandemic. During the pandemic, the accident rate rose, in part due to a drop in the number of aircraft movements at that time without a similar reduction in aircraft accidents.

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Fatal accident rate

As shown in Figure 6, the fatal accident rate in 2023 was 0.3 per 100 000 aircraft movements. This rate was calculated based on 14 fatal accidents in Canada involving Canadian- and foreign-registered airplanes and helicopters in 2023 (ultralights and other aircraft types are excluded). The 2023 rate is less than the 2022 rate and equivalent the 2013 to 2022 average. There is no statistically significant change in the fatal accident rate since 2013 (Kendall’s τb = −0.1273, p = 0.5858).

Fatality rate

In 2023, the fatality rate was 0.5 per 100 000 aircraft movements (Table 3). This rate was calculated based on 27 fatalities that resulted from accidents in Canada involving Canadian- and foreign-registered airplanes and helicopters (excluding ultralights and other aircraft types). This fatality rate is similar to the previous year’s rate and less than the average yearly rate of 0.6 between 2013 and 2022. There is no statistically significant trend in the fatality rate since 2013 (Kendall’s τb = −0.1636, p = 0.4835).

Dangerous goods released

The TSB recorded 2 accidents in 2023 involving a release of dangerous goods (Table 1). This is below the average of 6 per year over the previous 10 years.

Accident events and phases

For each reported accident, the TSB records one or more safety-significant events that occurred, and the phase of flight for each of these events. For example, if an airplane suffers engine power loss during takeoff (safety-significant event 1), and then returns to land and has a runway excursion during landing (safety-significant event 2), both events and their phase of flight will be recorded for statistical purposes. Tables 11 through 14 show how many accidents occurred for each event category and for each phase of flight from 2013 to 2023. Note that if a single accident involves more than one event within a phase of flight, that accident is only counted once in the phase total. Therefore, the total number of accidents for each event within a phase will not necessarily sum to the total number of accidents for a phase. For example, if an accident involves both "loss of control" and "power loss" events in the “takeoff” phase, then the accident is counted once in each event category within the phase, but only once in the overall phase total. Approximately 30% of accidents from 2013 to 2023 involved events in more than one phase of flight, so the number of accidents shown in the tables, and in Figures 7 and 8, sum to more than the total number of accidents.

Figures 7 and 8 and Tables 11 and 12 show the number of airplane and helicopter accidents by phase of flight during the period 2013 to 2023. The largest number of airplane accidents involve events that happen during the landing (1029) and takeoff (435) phases of flight (Table 11 and Figure 7). Similarly, helicopter accidents (Table 12 and Figure 8) have events that occur most often during the landing (144), manoeuvring^{Footnote 7} (80), and takeoff (60) phases of flight. Note that for airplanes, although the landing phase produces the largest outright number of accidents, fatal accidents happen most often during the en route (58) and takeoff (52) phases, not including post-impact events (Table 13 and Figure 7). For helicopters, the manoeuvring phase was associated with the largest proportion of fatal accidents (37 of 118, or 31%). Similarly, the en route (16) and manoeuvring (16) phases are linked to more fatal accidents in the 11-year period than are the takeoff (6), approach (3), and landing (5) phases of flight (Table 14 and Figure 8).

Figure 7. Airplane accidents having events in selected phases of flight, 2013 to 2023.

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Overview of incidents

Incident counts

In 2023, a total of 838 air transportation incidents were reported in accordance with the TSB Regulations (Table 9). This represents an increase of 15% from the 728 that were reported in 2022 and is 13% above the average of 742 incidents recorded per year between 2013 and 2022. Prior to 2020, incident counts had been generally increasing, which reflected both an increase in commercial flying activity and the introduction of new TSB reporting regulations that became effective 01 July 2014. Under these reporting requirements, air transportation incidents to be reported to the TSB were expanded to include aircraft with a maximum certificated takeoff weight greater than 2250 kg (formerly 5700 kg) and aircraft being operated with an air operator certificate issued under CARs Part VII—Commercial Air Services. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, both commercial flying activity and the number of reported incidents were greatly reduced.

Overall, 2023 saw a continued return toward pre-pandemic levels of commercial air traffic in Canada,^{Footnote 8} accompanied by an increase in reported air transportation incidents to pre-pandemic numbers. While declared emergency (345 incidents) is still the most frequently reported incident category in 2023 (Table 9 and Figure 9), it should be noted that this is something of a catch-all category for incidents where an emergency is declared and no other primary category (as set out in the TSB Regulations) applies. Risk of collision / loss of separation (ROC/LOS) incidents (139) increased in frequency compared to 2022 and represented about 17% of all incidents in 2023. Incidents involving engine failure (83) rose in 2023 to about 10% of all incidents. Amongst the remaining incident types, crew—flight crew or cabin crew—were reported to have been unable to perform their duties 86 times, or in 10% of all reportable incidents in the year, up from a low of 16 incidents (3.2%) in 2021.

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The majority (68%) of reported air transportation incidents in 2023 occurred in Canada and involved Canadian-registered aircraft (Table 1). However, 208 incidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft occurred outside Canada. This is greater than the previous high of 173 from 2022, and greatly exceeds the average of 110 per year in the 10 years from 2013 to 2022. Declared emergency and risk of collision/loss of separation (ROC/LOS) were the two most common incident types involving Canadian-registered aircraft outside of Canada (Table 1). Both incident types have increased in frequency in recent years. The TSB continues to monitor these trends moving forward.

The overall increase in reportable incidents is at least partially linked to improvements in reporting culture in the airline industry, the adoption of safety management systems by many smaller commercial operators (in addition to all of the major Canadian airlines), and the increased use of electronic flight bags and portable devices, both of which make it easier for pilots to report incidents.

In part due to reporting requirements laid out in the TSB Regulations, commercial operations were the source of the vast majority (95%) of the incidents reported to the TSB in 2023 (Table 9). More than two thirds of these incidents (546 of 838) involved Canadian-registered airliners operating under CARs Subpart 705 (airline operations) (tables 9 and 10). This is down from a peak of 614 in 2017, but 24% greater than the average of 442 incidents per year from 2013 to 2022 that involved Canadian-registered airliners.

Foreign air operators (CARs 701) were involved in 63 incidents in 2023, or about 8% of all commercial incidents (Table 9). This is lower than the levels recorded before the pandemic, despite the return to almost pre-pandemic levels of transborder and international passenger traffic.^{Footnote 9}

Data tables