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.

Determining which airline has the "most incidents" depends on whether you look at historical totals or modern safety rates. Historically, American Airlines and Air France often appear at the top of "total crash" lists (both with 11 recorded major accidents), but this is largely due to their age and massive scale—they have flown more miles and carried more passengers over 80+ years than almost anyone else. In terms of modern safety and "incidents" (which include non-fatal mechanical issues or turbulence), Lufthansa and United Airlines often report higher numbers simply because they operate two of the largest fleets in the world. However, if you look at safety ratings, airlines like Qantas, Air New Zealand, and Etihad are consistently ranked as the safest in the world in 2026. A peer-to-peer "reality check": commercial aviation is currently in its safest era ever; you are statistically safer on a modern jet from any major carrier than you are driving your own car to the airport, regardless of the historical "incident count" associated with that airline's name.