Air transportation occurrences in 2022

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 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 2022 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 13 March 2023. 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.

COVID-19 impacts on civil aviation in Canada

Air transportation in Canada slowly reverted to more normal patterns during 2022, after 2 years of significant disruption. As the year progressed, demand for business and vacation travel increased, while cargo activity remained high. Information collected by Statistics Canada indicates that total aircraft movements (take-offs and landings) at Canada's major and select small airports numbered 5.2 million. This was 14.1% higher than in 2021 and represented 84.9% of the pre-pandemic movements in 2019. The emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the first half of 2022 brought renewed travel restrictions that decreased aircraft movements. However, built-up demand for international travel was high by the end of 2022. Movements for the year might have been slightly higher had it not been for significant winter weather, which caused disruptions across Canada in December.

While activity at Canada’s major and select small airports is documented, it is more 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.

Overview of accidents and fatalities

Accident counts

Air transportation occurrences (both accidents and incidents)^{Footnote 5} 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 6}

In 2022, a total of 165 air transportation accidents were reported to the TSB (Table 1 and Figure 3). This number is 14% lower than the previous year’s total of 191 accidents and 29% below the yearly average of 233 accidents reported in the prior 10 years, 2012 to 2021. Most (152) of the accidents in 2022 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.

There were 145 accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft (excluding ultralights) in 2022 (Table 2). This is 15% below the 2021 count of 170 accidents, and 28% below the average of 203 accidents in the preceding 10 years (2012 to 2021). If the 15 accidents involving ultralights are included in the count, there were 160 accidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft in 2022.

Aircraft type

Of the 165 air transportation accidents reported to the TSB in 2022, 125 (76%) involved fixed-wing, powered airplanes (other than ultralights) (Table 1), 20 (12%) involved helicopters, 15 (9%) involved ultralights, and 6 accidents (4%) involved all other types of aircraft, such as balloons, gyroplanes, gliders, airships, hang gliders, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In the 10 years from 2012 to 2021, the average proportion of accidents involving each of these four categories of aircraft has remained fairly constant: airplanes have been involved in roughly 75% of reportable accidents each year, helicopters in about 12% of accidents, ultralights in about 10%, and other aircraft in about 3% of accidents each year.

Operator type

There were 56 accidents that involved commercially-operated aircraft of all types in 2022 (Table 1). This is 11% fewer than the 63 such accidents recorded in 2021, and 26% below the average of 76 accidents recorded in the 10 years from 2012 to 2021.

Commercially-operated Canadian-registered airplanes were involved in 39 accidents in 2022 (Table 2 and Figure 4). Of those, 4 involved operations under Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) Subpart 705, which certificates the operation of airliners. This is equal to the 4 accidents involving Canadian-registered airliners in 2021, and below the average of 6 accidents per year recorded from 2012 to 2021. In 2022, the TSB opened a class 3 investigation (A22C0093) into one of the four accidents in that year that involved airliners.^{Footnote 7} Information gathered to date suggests that this was a hard landing and a tail strike.

Also in 2022, there was 1 accident involving a Canadian-registered commuter airplane operating under CARs Subpart 704 (Table 2), as well as12 accidents involving air taxi operations (CARs Subpart 703)—8 involving airplanes and 4 involving helicopters. These 12 air taxi accidents are fewer than the 18 reported in 2021, and remain well below the average of 26 accidents per year occurring between 2012 and 2021. Flight training units operating under CARs Subpart 406 were involved in 17 accidents in 2022, of which all involved airplanes except for 1 which involved a helicopter and 1 an advanced ultralight. On average for the period 2012 to 2021, flight training units were involved in about 19 airplane and 1 helicopter accidents per year.

Overall in 2022, 107 air transportation accidents involved non-commercial (i.e., private aircraft) operations (Table 1), compared to 127 in the preceding year. The 2022 total is 30% below the annual average of 152 accidents from 2012 to 2021. Of the 107 total accidents in the non-commercial (private aircraft) operations category, 79 involved Canadian-registered airplanes (Table 2), with no accidents in 2022 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 2022, 100 accidents involved recreational operators of Canadian-registered aircraft—78 of them in fixed-wing airplanes (Table 2), 5 in helicopters, and 17 in other aircraft. These 100 accidents are 19% fewer than in the preceding year, and 29% fewer than the 141 such accidents seen on average between 2012 and 2021.

In addition to commercial and private operations, 2 accidents in 2022 were categorized as having other or unknown operation types (Table 1).

Province or territory

Ontario, with 48 reported accidents (all aircraft types, including ultralights), was the province with the largest number of reported accidents in 2022, surpassing Quebec with 33 (Table 7). Ontario averaged more accidents per year (57) in the 2012–2021 period than any other province or territory, with Quebec having the second-largest average accident count (49) for the same period. British Columbia and Alberta also have high average accident counts compared with the remaining provinces and territories.

Altogether, 7 accidents that were reportable under TSB Regulations occurred outside Canada in 2022. These all involved fixed-wing airplanes: 4 were operating commercially and 3 privately. While these 7 accidents were more than the 6 observed in 2021, that is fewer than the average of 8 per year for the period 2012 through 2021.

Focusing on Canadian-registered aircraft (excluding ultralights), most provinces saw fewer accidents reported in 2022 than the average of the previous 10 years (Table 8 and Figure 5). Saskatchewan, with 14 accidents reported for the year, was the only location to have more accidents than the 10-year average (of 12).

Fatal accidents, fatalities, and serious injuries

The TSB recorded 24 fatal air transportation accidents resulting in 34 fatalities in 2022 (tables 1 and 4, and Figure 6). This is slightly more than the 22 fatal accidents resulting in 31 fatalities in 2021, but is still 9% below the average of 26 fatal accidents involving 43 fatalities over the ten years from 2012 to 2021. Of the 24 fatal accidents in 2022, 16 involved fixed-wing, powered airplanes, 3 involved helicopters, 4 involved advanced ultralight aircraft, and 1 involved a glider. Twenty-two of these occurrences involved Canadian-registered aircraft and all occurred in Canadian airspace. Two occurrences involved U.S.-registered airplanes operating privately in Canada.

Ten of the 34 air transportation fatalities in 2022 involved commercial operations (Table 4): 3 of them under air taxi regulations (CARs 703), 6 under aerial work regulations (CARs 702), and 1 under flight training unit regulations (CARs 406). There were no fatalities involving airliner operations (CARs 705), or commuter operations (CARs 704) in 2022. The remaining 24 (of 34) fatalities in 2022 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, 25 of 34 fatalities in 2022 resulted from accidents in fixed-wing powered airplanes (Table 4). Helicopter accidents resulted in 3 fatalities, ultralight accidents accounted for 5, and a glider for 1 death. Of the 34 total fatalities, 24 were crew members and 10 were aircraft passengers. There were no fatalities among persons on the ground in 2022.

Overall, 35 persons received serious injuries in aircraft accidents in 2022 (Table 5), which is 9 fewer than the 44 persons seriously injured in 2021, but 14% above the average of 31 in the period 2012 to 2021. Eleven persons received serious injuries in accidents involving commercial operations in 2022: 3 in airliners (CARs 705), none in a commuter aircraft (CARs 704), 4 in the air taxi sector (CARs 703), 4 in aerial work operations (CARs 702), and none with a flight-training unit (CARs 406). Also during 2022, 24 persons incurred serious injuries in recreational operations.

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 8} 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 2022, 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 2022.

In 2019, Statistics Canada changed the way it collected data about aircraft movements at airports in Canada. For the calendar years 2020 and 2021 the TSB was not able to report an accident rate by number of aircraft movements in Canada. However, estimates of aircraft movements for those years are now available, and this report provides 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 versus airline operators) or between different types of aircraft (such as airplane, helicopter, or floatplane). Therefore, accident rates cannot be calculated for individual sectors of the industry.

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 actually working.

Therefore, in 2019 the Board recommended that

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

Overall accident rate

Statistics Canada collects information about the number of aircraft movements that take place at major and select small airports in Canada. The 2022 overall air transportation accident rate of 2.6 per 100 000 aircraft movements (Table 3) was calculated based on the 138 accidents (14% fewer than in 2021) in Canada involving Canadian-registered and foreign airplanes and helicopters (ultralights and other aircraft types are excluded), and the estimated 5 211 000 aircraft movements at Canadian airports (14% more than in 2021). This rate is the lowest accident rate (by movements) that the TSB has recorded since 2003.

The accident rate for aircraft operating in Canada has been trending generally downward over the past 11 years. The accident rate has fallen from 3.9 accidents per 100 000 aircraft movements in 2012 to a low of 2.6 in 2022. To test whether the change in rate was statistically significant, Kendall’s tau-b (τ_b) correlation and Sen’s estimate of slope were used to quantify the trend in accident rate. Kendall's τ_b correlation coefficient is a nonparametric measure of the strength and direction of association that exists between two variables. Kendall’s τ_b was calculated on the 11-year series of accident rate values by year from 2012 to 2022. There was a moderate, statistically significant negative correlation that indicates a downward trend in accident rate per 100 000 aircraft movements over the period (τ_b = −0.4909, p = 0.0356). Sen’s estimate of slope, the amount of downward rate change per year, was −0.072 occurrences per 100 000 aircraft movements per year. A graphical illustration is presented in Figure 7.

Fatal accidents

Figure 7 also shows rate data for fatal accidents. For the 19 fatal accidents in Canada involving Canadian- and foreign-registered airplanes and helicopters in 2022 (ultralights and other aircraft types are excluded), the fatal accident rate was 0.4 per 100 000 aircraft movements, which is equal to the 2021 rate and also the 2012 to 2021 average of 0.4 fatal accidents per 100 000 aircraft movements. There is no statistically significant change in the fatal accident rate since 2012 (Kendall’s τ_b = −0.2000, p = 0.3918).

Fatalities

In 2022, 28 fatalities resulted from accidents in Canada involving Canadian- and foreign-registered airplanes and helicopters (excluding ultralights and other aircraft types), yielding a rate of 0.5 fatalities per 100 000 aircraft movements. This fatality rate is lower than the 2021 rate of 0.6, and equivalent to the average yearly rate between 2012 and 2021. There is no statistically significant trend (neither upward nor downward) in the fatality rate since 2011 (Kendall’s τ_b = −0.2364, p = 0.3115) (data not shown).

Dangerous goods released

The TSB recorded 7 accidents in 2022 involving a release of dangerous goods (Table 1). This is above the average of 5 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), each of the two events and their phase of flight will be recorded for statistical purposes. Tables 11 through 14 show, by phase of flight, how many accidents occurred for each event category, from 2012 to 2022. 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, in the "takeoff" phase, if an accident involves both "loss of control" and "power loss" events, the accident is counted once in each event category within the phase, but only once in the overall phase total. As well, approximately 30% of accidents from 2012 to 2022 involved events in more than one phase of flight, so the number of accidents shown in the tables, and in figures 8 and 9, sum to more than the total number of accidents.

Figures 8 and 9 and Tables 11 and 12 show the number of airplane and helicopter accidents by phase of flight and event category during the period 2012 to 2022. Compare those counts with the total number of airplane accidents (1866) and helicopter accidents (309) in the same period (Table 1). It is obvious that the largest number of accidents involve events that happen during the landing (1057) and takeoff (457) phases of flight (Table 11 and Figure 8). Similarly, helicopter accidents (Table 12 and Figure 9) have events that occur most often during the landing (142), manoeuvring^{Footnote 9} (82), and takeoff (63) 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 (63) and takeoff (54) phases, not including post-impact events (Table 13 and Figure 8). Furthermore, the manoeuvring phase was associated with the largest proportion of fatal accidents (39 of 119, or 33%). Similarly, for helicopters, the en route (19) and manoeuvring (17) phases are linked to more fatal accidents in the 11-year period than are the approach (4) and landing (7) phases of flight (Table 14 and Figure 10).

Overview of incidents

Incident counts

In 2022, 724 air transportation incidents of all types were reported in accordance with the TSB Regulations (Table 9). This represents an increase of 45% from the 500 that were reported in 2021, and is just 1% below the average of 733 incidents recorded per year between 2012 and 2021. 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 July 1, 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, 2022 saw a continued return toward pre-pandemic levels of commercial air traffic in Canada,^{Footnote 10} accompanied by an increase in reported air transportation incidents to pre-pandemic numbers. While declared emergency (310 incidents) is still the most frequently reported incident category in 2022 (Table 9 and Figure 10), 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 (124) doubled in frequency compared to 2021, and represented about 17% of all incidents in 2022. Incidents involving engine failure (65) declined in 2022 to about 9% of all incidents. Amongst the remaining incident types, crew were reported to have been unable to perform their duties 47 times, or in 6% of all reportable incidents in the year, up from a low of 16 incidents (3%) in the previous year. This category includes both flight crew and cabin crew.

The majority of air transportation incidents in 2022 (490 or 68%) occurred in Canada and involved Canadian-registered aircraft (Table 1). However, 173 incidents involving Canadian-registered aircraft occurred outside Canada in 2022. This count is close to the peak number of 181 seen in 2017 and again in 2019, and greatly exceeds the average of 98 per year in the 10 years from 2012 to 2021. 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 of these 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, 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 671 (93%) of the 724 incidents reported to the TSB in 2022 (Table 9). More than half (415, or 62%) of these 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, and 6% fewer than the average of 441 incidents per year from 2012 to 2021 that involved Canadian-registered airliners.

Foreign air operators (CARs 701) were involved in 55 incidents in 2022, or about 8% of all commercial incidents. This is below the levels recorded before the pandemic, despite the return to about 85% of pre-pandemic transborder and international passenger traffic.^{Footnote 11}

Data tables