ATR 72 safety record
The ATR is one of the most-flown turboprops, often on the hardest short routes there are. Here is its accident record, read against how and where it flies.
A long record in some of the hardest flying there is
ATRs have flown since the 1980s, in large numbers and often on short hops into small airports, islands and mountain regions where the flying is hardest. Across the ATR 42 and ATR 72, the published accident record lists 28 events with deaths on board up to September 2026 — a record to read against how many ATRs there are and where they fly. The current ATR 72-600 has had two.
A 1994 icing accident at Roselawn, Indiana led to changes in the aircraft's de-icing system and in how aircraft are certified to fly in icing conditions. Recent fatal ATR accidents were in Nepal in 2023, Brazil in 2024 and Indonesia in January 2026, where an ATR 42 crashed in South Sulawesi with ten people on board.
The ATR 72 in numbers
Why a turboprop feels bumpier
An ATR is lighter than any jet and flies lower, where most of the weather is. A lighter aircraft is moved more by each gust, so a short ATR hop can feel bumpier than a long flight on a large jet.
The high, straight wing is flexing to absorb those gusts, exactly as it's designed to, and the aircraft is built and certified to the same strength standards as the jets. What changes is how much of the air's movement reaches you.
Four across, no middle seat
Two seats, an aisle, two seats. Every passenger has a window or an aisle, and with the wing overhead, most window seats have an open view of the ground below.
On many ATRs you board at the back: the main passenger door is at the rear of the cabin, and the front is used for cargo. It's the same aircraft; the door is just at the other end.
How big it really is
The ATR 72 is small by airliner standards, and the ATR 42 is smaller still. Both have a straight wing on top of the fuselage and a propeller on each engine.
Tap any other airliner to lay it over the ATR at exactly the same scale.
The ATR 72 in white, the 777 outlined in gold. Same scale, same metre.
ATR questions
How safe is the ATR?
The ATR is one of the most-flown turboprops, often on the hardest short routes there are. Every figure on this page is sourced — the list is at the bottom.
Why is an engine running at the gate with its propeller stopped?
The ATR 72 can brake its right-hand propeller while the engine keeps running, so the engine powers the aircraft's electrics and air conditioning on the ground without a spinning propeller near the ground crew. Crews call it hotel mode.
Why is the ATR so loud?
The propellers and engines sit on the wing just above and beside the cabin, so the front rows hear and feel them more than you would on a jet. The noise is the propeller blades working; it doesn't indicate anything about the engines' health.
Are ATR planes safe?
Yes. They are certified to the same standards as jet airliners, operated by airlines under the same rules and maintained under the same regulated programmes. The type has flown for decades across a huge range of routes and climates.
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.
- ATR Wingspan, Length, Typical seats, Range
- fzt.haw-hamburg.de Cabin width, Economy
- ATR Seat width
- ATR Engines
- ATR Delivered
- ATR Still being built
- Wikipedia First flight
- Airways Magazine In service since
- Aviation Safety Network Accident record
- World Airline News Accident record
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