Safety
Business turbine airplane Accident fewer but deadlier
While the number of fatal accidents involving turbine-powered business airplanes declined slightly through the first nine months of this year compared with

While the number of fatal accidents involving turbine-powered business airplanes declined slightly through the first nine months of this year compared with last year, those accidents took a larger toll, according to statistics compiled by Boca Raton, Fla.-based safety analyst Robert E. Breiling Associates. Through September of this year, 12 fatal accidents resulting in 33 fatalities were recorded, compared with 15 such accidents and 30 casualties in the same period last year.

For business jets, the overall number of accidents declined from 23 last year to 18 this year, but five of this year’s accidents–none involving corporate jets–resulted in 14 fatalities. A June 4 accident involving a Citation II that crashed into Lake Michigan while on a medical transport flight is responsible for six fatalities.