For U.S. Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) Part 135 on-demand operations, the striking improvement in the fatal accident rate and numbers noted in 2009 (ASW, 4/10, p. 48) reversed course in 2010, although both rate and numbers remained well below 2001-2008 averages. Accident rates for commuter flights in 2010 conducted under Part 135 were up from those of 2009, but for the fourth year in a row, there were no fatal accidents. In FARs Part 121 scheduled service — airlines — the accident rate was the highest since 2005, but in that category, too, there were no fatal accidents. Data for U.S. operations were released in April by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).1 Scheduled Part 121 operations had 0.276 accidents per 100,000 departures in 2010 (Table 1). The corresponding number for Part 135 commuter operations was 1.026, or 3.7 times higher.
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