airline safety

Air New Zealand safety record

No one has died in an accident on Air New Zealand's own flights since 1979 — more than forty-five years. On airlines like Air New Zealand, the chance of a passenger dying in an accident is about 1 in 80 million per flight.

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No one on board has died in an accident since 1979
Chance of dying in an accident, per flight1 in 80 million

For airlines based in New Zealand and the other countries in the same safety group, 2018–2022 (MIT study).

Put another way: if you took a flight every single day, you would, on average, fly for about 219,000 years before a fatal accident happened to you.

the record

No fatal accident on its own flights since 1979

Air New Zealand's worst accident was flight 901, a DC-10 sightseeing flight that flew into Mount Erebus in Antarctica in November 1979, killing all 257 on board. The official findings disagree: the 1980 accident report blamed the crew's descent below the minimum safe altitude, while the 1981 Royal Commission found the main cause was the airline changing the flight-path coordinates without telling the crew. Earlier that year an F27 crashed into Manukau Harbour on approach to Auckland, killing two.

Since then, no one has died in an accident on Air New Zealand's own flights. In 1995 Kiwi West flight 337, a Queen Air flying within the Air New Zealand Link network, crashed near Hamilton after both engines stopped from fuel starvation, killing six; New Zealand's investigators found it had taken off with its fuel selectors on almost-empty tanks. In 2008 an A320 that Air New Zealand owned and had leased out crashed off the French coast on a test flight run by XL Airways Germany; France's investigators found blocked angle-of-attack sensors stopped its protections working. The seven killed included Air New Zealand staff.

since 1970

Every fatal accident, on one line

Solid dots are its own flights; hollow ones were flown by a partner or subsidiary under its name; grey rings are hijackings and attacks. Deaths that investigators don't class as accidents (such as trespassers) aren't shown.

197019801990200020102020
Its own flights Partner, subsidiary or predecessor airline flights
  1. Mar 1995 Kiwi West 337 (Air New Zealand Link) · Beechcraft Queen Air · Ngahinapouri, near HamiltonA Queen Air flown by Kiwi West Aviation for Eagle Airways within the Air New Zealand Link network took off with its fuel selectors on almost-empty tanks; both engines stopped from fuel starvation and it stalled and spun (TAIC report 95-004).
  2. Nov 1979 TE901 · McDonnell Douglas DC-10 · Mount Erebus, AntarcticaA sightseeing flight flew into Mount Erebus. The 1980 accident report blamed the crew's descent below the minimum safe altitude; the 1981 Royal Commission found the main cause was the airline changing the flight-path coordinates without telling the crew.
  3. Feb 1979 NZ4374 · Fokker F27 · Manukau Harbour, on approach to AucklandCrashed into the water on final approach; the official report (79-034) found the crew were misled by a visual illusion in reduced visibility into believing they were at a safe height, and did not monitor their instruments.
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at a glance

Air New Zealand in numbers

Founded
1940
Country
New Zealand
Alliance
Star Alliance
Main hubs
Auckland · Christchurch · Wellington
IATA safety audit (IOSA)
Registered
the fleet

What Air New Zealand flies

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Air New Zealand safety questions

How safe is Air New Zealand?

No one has died in an accident on Air New Zealand's own flights since 1979 — more than forty-five years. On airlines like Air New Zealand, the chance of a passenger dying in an accident is about 1 in 80 million per flight. Every fact on this page is sourced — the list is at the bottom.

What is Air New Zealand's safety rating?

There is no single official safety rating for airlines; the scores some websites publish are their own formulas. What can be checked is the record: no fatal accident on its own flights since 1979, with the events before and since set out on this page. It is a member of IATA, the airlines' trade body, which requires its members to pass IATA's operational safety audit (IOSA).

What happened on Air New Zealand flight 901?

In November 1979 the DC-10 sightseeing flight flew into Mount Erebus in Antarctica, killing all 257 on board. The 1980 accident report blamed the crew's descent below the minimum safe altitude; the 1981 Royal Commission found the main cause was the airline changing the flight-path coordinates without telling the crew.

sources

Where these facts come from

Every fact on this page comes from official accident reports, the airline's own figures or the published accident record.

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