Aviation Events by State
NTSB aviation accident and incident data broken down by U.S. state, from 31,308 recorded events.
Aviation accident frequency varies significantly by state, driven by factors including population density, general aviation activity, terrain, and weather patterns. States with large general aviation communities, such as California, Texas, and Florida, tend to generate the most NTSB event reports. Alaska is notable for its disproportionately high aviation accident rate relative to population, owing to remote bush flying operations and challenging weather conditions.
Events by State
All U.S. states with recorded NTSB aviation events, sorted by total count.
| # | State | Events | Fatalities | Browse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California (CA) | 2,327 | 768 | Browse |
| 2 | Texas (TX) | 2,124 | 581 | Browse |
| 3 | Florida (FL) | 1,900 | 513 | Browse |
| 4 | Alaska (AK) | 1,675 | 346 | Browse |
| 5 | OF (OF) | 1,191 | 809 | Browse |
| 6 | Arizona (AZ) | 997 | 279 | Browse |
| 7 | Colorado (CO) | 814 | 230 | Browse |
| 8 | Washington (WA) | 785 | 155 | Browse |
| 9 | Georgia (GA) | 719 | 240 | Browse |
| 10 | North Carolina (NC) | 595 | 184 | Browse |
| 11 | Idaho (ID) | 580 | 125 | Browse |
| 12 | Illinois (IL) | 570 | 124 | Browse |
| 13 | New York (NY) | 556 | 226 | Browse |
| 14 | Oregon (OR) | 555 | 143 | Browse |
| 15 | Ohio (OH) | 531 | 174 | Browse |
| 16 | Utah (UT) | 520 | 177 | Browse |
| 17 | Michigan (MI) | 503 | 135 | Browse |
| 18 | Pennsylvania (PA) | 496 | 106 | Browse |
| 19 | Wisconsin (WI) | 474 | 124 | Browse |
| 20 | Virginia (VA) | 463 | 117 | Browse |
| 21 | Missouri (MO) | 454 | 127 | Browse |
| 22 | Minnesota (MN) | 449 | 101 | Browse |
| 23 | Nevada (NV) | 445 | 125 | Browse |
| 24 | Tennessee (TN) | 436 | 140 | Browse |
| 25 | New Mexico (NM) | 404 | 134 | Browse |
| 26 | Indiana (IN) | 383 | 95 | Browse |
| 27 | Arkansas (AR) | 375 | 119 | Browse |
| 28 | Louisiana (LA) | 365 | 141 | Browse |
| 29 | Oklahoma (OK) | 360 | 128 | Browse |
| 30 | Montana (MT) | 339 | 105 | Browse |
| 31 | South Carolina (SC) | 334 | 92 | Browse |
| 32 | Kansas (KS) | 332 | 65 | Browse |
| 33 | Alabama (AL) | 331 | 119 | Browse |
| 34 | New Jersey (NJ) | 301 | 81 | Browse |
| 35 | Iowa (IA) | 285 | 62 | Browse |
| 36 | Maryland (MD) | 255 | 44 | Browse |
| 37 | Wyoming (WY) | 229 | 69 | Browse |
| 38 | Kentucky (KY) | 225 | 58 | Browse |
| 39 | Nebraska (NE) | 220 | 69 | Browse |
| 40 | Massachusetts (MA) | 212 | 58 | Browse |
| 41 | Mississippi (MS) | 209 | 71 | Browse |
| 42 | Hawaii (HI) | 166 | 86 | Browse |
| 43 | Maine (ME) | 157 | 45 | Browse |
| 44 | South Dakota (SD) | 152 | 56 | Browse |
| 45 | North Dakota (ND) | 134 | 24 | Browse |
| 46 | Connecticut (CT) | 127 | 32 | Browse |
| 47 | West Virginia (WV) | 114 | 41 | Browse |
| 48 | New Hampshire (NH) | 109 | 15 | Browse |
| 49 | Puerto Rico (PR) | 79 | 36 | Browse |
| 50 | Vermont (VT) | 64 | 13 | Browse |
| 51 | Rhode Island (RI) | 39 | 6 | Browse |
| 52 | Delaware (DE) | 32 | 6 | Browse |
| 53 | AO (AO) | 29 | 29 | Browse |
| 54 | PO (PO) | 24 | 8 | Browse |
| 55 | GM (GM) | 15 | 5 | Browse |
| 56 | Washington D.C. (DC) | 5 | 67 | Browse |
| 57 | CB (CB) | 4 | 6 | Browse |
| 58 | Guam (GU) | 1 | 0 | Browse |
State reflects the location where the event occurred. Events without a U.S. state (international events or missing data) are excluded.
Why Some States Have More Aviation Accidents
General Aviation Activity
States with large general aviation communities, private pilots, flight schools, crop dusters, and small charter operators, generate the most NTSB events. California, Texas, and Florida have some of the busiest general aviation environments in the country, with thousands of small airports and hundreds of thousands of registered aircraft. Most NTSB-reportable events involve general aviation aircraft, not commercial air carriers.
Alaska: The High-Risk Outlier
Alaska consistently reports one of the highest aviation accident rates per capita in the United States. Remote communities rely on small aircraft as their primary transportation link, and pilots frequently operate in mountainous terrain, low visibility, icing conditions, and on unimproved airstrips. Alaska has more pilots per capita than any other state, and "bush flying" to remote locations remains inherently hazardous despite improvements in navigation technology and weather forecasting.
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