American Airlines safety record
No passenger or crew member has died in an accident on an American Airlines mainline flight since 2001. The 2025 Washington crash was an American Eagle flight run by its regional subsidiary PSA Airlines. On airlines like American Airlines, the chance of a passenger dying in an accident is about 1 in 80 million per flight.
For airlines based in the United States 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.
No passenger or crew deaths on its own flights since 2001
American's last fatal accident on its own flights was on 12 November 2001, when flight 587 crashed in Queens, New York, killing all 260 on board and five people on the ground. The NTSB found the tail fin broke away after the first officer's unnecessary and excessive rudder inputs in wake turbulence, and also cited the A300-600's rudder design and elements of American's pilot training programme. Two months earlier, flights 11 and 77 were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon — acts of terrorism, not accidents.
Flights sold as American Eagle are flown by American's own regional subsidiaries (Envoy, Piedmont and PSA) and by partner airlines (Republic and SkyWest), each with its own crews and operating certificate. On 29 January 2025, American Eagle 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, collided with an Army helicopter on approach to Washington's Reagan National; all 64 on board and the three on the helicopter died. The NTSB found the FAA had placed a helicopter route too close to the runway approach and cited the air traffic system's overreliance on visual separation.
American carried about 224 million passengers in 2025, regional flights included, and is registered with IATA's operational safety audit (IOSA). Accidents at airlines it later merged with — US Airways and TWA — are part of those airlines' own records and are not shown here.
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.
- Jan 2025 American Eagle 5342 (PSA Airlines) · Bombardier CRJ700 · Potomac River, WashingtonCollided with an Army helicopter on approach to Reagan National; the NTSB found the FAA had placed a helicopter route too close to the approach, and cited the air traffic system's overreliance on visual separation.
- Dec 2022 American Eagle 3408 (Envoy Air) · Embraer E175 · Montgomery, AlabamaA ramp agent was killed after being drawn into a running engine at the gate.
- Oct 2004 AmericanConnection 5966 (Corporate Airlines) · BAe Jetstream 32 · Kirksville, MissouriThe NTSB found the pilots descended below the minimum altitude on a night approach in cloud.
- Dec 1994 American Eagle 3379 (Flagship Airlines) · BAe Jetstream 32 · near Raleigh-Durham, North CarolinaThe NTSB found the captain wrongly believed an engine had failed and did not follow the procedures for it.
- Oct 1994 American Eagle 4184 (Simmons Airlines) · ATR 72 · near Roselawn, IndianaIce built up beyond the de-icing boots in freezing drizzle and caused a sudden loss of control, the NTSB found.
- Jun 1992 American Eagle 5456 (Executive Airlines) · CASA C-212 · near Mayagüez, Puerto RicoThe NTSB found a propeller safety device failed and the power levers moved into a setting not meant for flight, causing a loss of control.
- Feb 1988 American Eagle 3378 (AVAir) · Fairchild Metro III · near Raleigh-Durham, North CarolinaThe NTSB found the crew did not maintain a proper flight path after take-off.
- May 1987 American Eagle 5452 (Executive Air Charter) · CASA C-212 · Mayagüez, Puerto RicoThe NTSB found improper maintenance of the propeller settings led to a loss of control.
- Nov 2001 AA587 · Airbus A300 · Belle Harbor, Queens, New YorkThe tail fin broke away after the first officer's unnecessary and excessive rudder inputs in wake turbulence; the NTSB also cited the A300-600's rudder design and elements of American's pilot training programme.
- Sep 2001 AA77 · Boeing 757 · The Pentagon, Arlington, VirginiaHijacked by terrorists and flown into the Pentagon.
- Sep 2001 AA11 · Boeing 767 · World Trade Center, New YorkHijacked by terrorists and flown into the World Trade Center North Tower.
- Nov 2000 AA1291 · Airbus A300 · MiamiA door opened explosively during an evacuation and a crew member was thrown out; the NTSB found the crew had not completed the checklists that would have depressurised the cabin.
- Jun 1999 AA1420 · McDonnell Douglas MD-82 · Little Rock, ArkansasThe NTSB found the crew continued the approach as thunderstorms moved over the airport and did not make sure the spoilers deployed; fatigue contributed.
- Dec 1995 AA965 · Boeing 757 · near Buga, ColombiaColombia's investigators found the crew did not plan or break off the approach to Cali and lost awareness of the terrain.
- May 1979 AA191 · McDonnell Douglas DC-10 · Chicago O'HareAn engine and its pylon separated on take-off because of damage done during maintenance; the NTSB found the wing slats that retracted with it caused the stall.
- Apr 1976 AA625 · Boeing 727 · St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin IslandsThe NTSB found the captain began a go-around with too little runway left after a long touchdown.
- Jan 1971 AA30 · Boeing 707 · Edison, New JerseyCollided with a Cessna 150 on approach to Newark; the NTSB found neither crew could see and avoid the other in busy airspace in poor visibility. Both people in the Cessna died.
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American Airlines in numbers
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American Airlines safety questions
How safe is American Airlines?
No passenger or crew member has died in an accident on an American Airlines mainline flight since 2001. The 2025 Washington crash was an American Eagle flight run by its regional subsidiary PSA Airlines. On airlines like American Airlines, 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 American Airlines' safety rating?
FlyBud doesn't give airlines a made-up score. What can be checked is the record on this page and whether the airline passes IATA's operational safety audit (IOSA), which American Airlines does.
Has American Airlines ever had a crash?
Yes. Its last fatal crash on its own flights was flight 587 in New York in 2001. In January 2025 an American Eagle flight, operated by its regional subsidiary PSA Airlines, collided with an Army helicopter near Washington; the NTSB's findings are summarised on this page.
Is American Eagle part of American Airlines?
American Eagle is the name American sells regional flights under. They are flown by American's own regional subsidiaries (Envoy, Piedmont and PSA) and by partner airlines (Republic and SkyWest), each with its own crews and operating certificate, which is why this page lists their accidents separately.
Where these facts come from
Every fact on this page is from the airline's own filings, the official accident investigation or the published accident record.
- American Airlines 10-K 2025 Passengers, fleet, founding
- IATA IOSA registry IOSA registration (read 30 Sep 2026)
- NTSB American Eagle 5342 investigation
- Aviation Safety Network Flight 587 and the accident record
- Wikipedia Accidents before 1970 (fallback)
- IATA IOSA registry IOSA registration (checked 30 Sep 2026)
- MIT News / Journal of Air Transport Management (Barnett, 2024) risk per flight 2018–2022
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