Airbus A330 safety record
The A330 has had three fatal accidents in more than thirty years, and an accident rate about a quarter of the average for jets.
Three fatal accidents in more than thirty years
Boeing's annual accident summary measures this as fatal hull losses per million departures — how many times in a million flights an aircraft of the type was destroyed in an accident that killed someone. Across the worldwide jet fleet Boeing tracks, since 1959, the figure is 0.52. The A330 stands at 0.12, about a quarter of that (Boeing's count leaves out the 1994 test flight).
Its three fatal accidents are a 1994 test flight with only test crew and company staff on board, Afriqiyah 771 at Tripoli in 2010, and Air France 447 over the Atlantic in 2009. The Air France investigation found that ice briefly blocked the airspeed sensors and the crew, working without reliable speeds, pulled the aircraft into a stall they did not recognise or recover from; airspeed sensors were replaced across the fleet and airline pilots everywhere now train specifically for that situation.
The A330 in numbers
The wings are meant to bend
The A330 has long, flexible wings, and in bumpy air you can watch the tips rise and fall from a window seat. That's the wing absorbing the gust instead of passing all of it into the cabin, and it's built to bend far further than any weather will ask.
It's also a heavy aircraft, and mass is what keeps a gust from moving it much. Most bumps reach the cabin as a slow heave rather than a jolt.
Eight across in economy
Most airlines fit eight economy seats across the A330, in a 2-4-2 layout with two aisles. That's the layout couples look for: the pairs by the windows mean two people get a window and an aisle between them, with nobody to climb over.
The drawing fits the eight seats and two aisles into the cabin's published width. Only the two seats in the very middle of the row have a neighbour on both sides; every other seat has at most one.
How big it really is
The A330 is a mid-sized wide-body: bigger than any single-aisle jet, about as long as a 787-9 and with much the same wingspan, but with a narrower cabin, and smaller than the A350 that followed it. The newest version, the A330neo, has new engines and longer wings but the same fuselage and cabin.
Tap any other airliner to lay it over the A330 at exactly the same scale.
The A330 in white, the A320 outlined in gold. Same scale, same metre.
Airbus A330 questions
How safe is the A330?
The A330 has had three fatal accidents in more than thirty years, and an accident rate about a quarter of the average for jets. Every figure on this page is sourced — the list is at the bottom.
Why do people like the A330's economy seats?
The 2-4-2 layout. Pairs of seats by each window suit couples, and fewer seats across means fewer middle seats — only the two in the centre block.
What is the difference between the A330 and the A330neo?
The neo is the updated version, with newer, more efficient engines and a longer wing. The fuselage and cabin width are the same, so the seat layout you get is the same.
Is the A330 good in turbulence?
It's a heavy wide-body with long, flexible wings, so it tends to ride bumpy air comfortably. Like every airliner, it's built to take far more than any turbulence it will meet.
Every other airliner
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page is from the manufacturer, the certifying authority or the published accident record.
- EASA type certificate data sheet Wingspan, Length, Cabin width
- Airbus Cabin width, Range
- Airbus Typical seats, Engines, Still being built, In service since, Bent upward in the strength test
- Airbus Economy, Seat width
- law.cornell.edu Cabin altitude
- Airbus Delivered
- Airways Magazine First flight
- Wikipedia Accident record
Flying on an A330 soon?
FlyBud shows the exact aircraft on your flight and the turbulence forecast for your route.