American Airlines is at the top of the list, with 11 accidents, which caused 858 fatalities. Two of these accidents came directly from the 9/11 attacks in September 2001. Because of the 11 accidents, this makes them joint top with Air France for the airline with the most crashes in the world with 11 accidents apiece.

Historically, Aeroflot (the national carrier of Russia) is often cited as having the highest number of fatal accidents in its long history, which dates back to the 1920s. However, this statistic is heavily skewed by the airline's massive size during the Soviet era and its operation of older, less reliable aircraft. In more modern times, airlines like Lion Air and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have faced scrutiny for safety records due to a series of high-profile incidents in the 21st century. It is vital to distinguish between historical "raw numbers" and modern safety rankings. In 2026, the aviation world looks to the AirlineRatings.com annual report, which consistently ranks carriers like Etihad, Qantas, and Air New Zealand as the safest in the world. Safety is measured by "incident per flight" rather than total crashes over a century. Flying remains the safest form of travel, and many airlines that had poor reputations in the 1970s or 80s have undergone massive safety overhauls to meet international ICAO standards, significantly reducing the risk of accidents today.