Delta Air Lines safety record
No passenger or crew member has died in an accident on a Delta mainline flight since 1996 — thirty years. On airlines like Delta, 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.
Thirty years without a passenger or crew death on its own flights
Delta's last fatal accident on its own flights was on 6 July 1996 at Pensacola, when an engine's fan hub broke apart on the take-off roll and two passengers died; the NTSB found a manufacturing crack had been missed in inspection. Its last fatal crash was on 31 August 1988, when flight 1141 took off from Dallas/Fort Worth without its flaps set.
Flights sold as Delta Connection are flown by regional airlines with their own crews and operating certificates. The deadliest was Comair 5191 in 2006, which took off from the wrong, too-short runway at Lexington, Kentucky; 49 people died. Accidents at airlines it later merged with — Northwest and Western — are part of those airlines' own records and are not shown here.
Delta is registered with IATA's operational safety audit (IOSA).
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.
- Aug 2006 Delta Connection 5191 (Comair) · Bombardier CRJ100 · Lexington, KentuckyThe crew took off from the wrong, too-short runway, the NTSB found.
- Jan 1997 Delta Connection 3272 (Comair) · Embraer EMB 120 · near Monroe, MichiganLost control in icing; the NTSB cited inadequate icing certification standards.
- Aug 1995 Delta Connection 529 (Atlantic Southeast) · Embraer EMB 120 · Carrollton, GeorgiaA propeller blade failed from a fatigue crack missed in inspection, the NTSB found.
- Apr 1991 Delta Connection 2311 (Atlantic Southeast) · Embraer EMB 120 · near Brunswick, GeorgiaA propeller control fault let the blades move below flight idle and the aircraft went out of control; the NTSB cited the part's design.
- Jul 1996 DL1288 · McDonnell Douglas MD-88 · Pensacola, FloridaAn engine's fan hub broke apart on the take-off roll; the NTSB found a manufacturing crack had been missed in inspection.
- Aug 1988 DL1141 · Boeing 727 · Dallas/Fort WorthThe crew did not set the flaps for take-off and the warning system did not sound, the NTSB found.
- Aug 1985 DL191 · Lockheed L-1011 · Dallas/Fort WorthFlew into a microburst on approach; the NTSB cited the decision to continue into a thunderstorm and the lack of wind-shear training and detection at the time.
- Feb 1974 DL523 · McDonnell Douglas DC-9 · BaltimoreA man shot an airport police officer and both pilots at the gate in an attempted hijacking; the first officer died.
- Jul 1973 DL723 · McDonnell Douglas DC-9 · Boston LoganThe NTSB found the crew flew an unstabilised approach in low visibility without monitoring altitude and hit a seawall.
- Dec 1972 DL954 · Convair 880 · Chicago O'HareA North Central DC-9 taking off in fog struck the Delta aircraft on the runway; ten people on the DC-9 died. The NTSB cited air traffic control and the Delta crew not confirming its taxi route.
- May 1972 DL9570 (training) · McDonnell Douglas DC-9 · Fort Worth, TexasOn a training flight the aircraft rolled out of control in the wake of a preceding wide-body jet, the NTSB found.
Flying Delta Air Lines soon? See the bumps on your route
Enter where you're flying from and to. The forecast shows where the bumpy stretches are, how strong they'll be and when in the flight they come, from global weather forecasts and live pilot reports.
The day you fly, in the departure airport's own calendar.
Delta Air Lines in numbers
What Delta Air Lines flies
Tap a plane for its own safety record.
Flying Delta Air Lines? Know before you board.
- ✓Which aircraft is on your flight — the exact type and its record, updated if the airline swaps it
- ✓The turbulence forecast for your exact flight, refreshed as new weather comes in
- ✓Delays and gate changes on your Lock Screen, before the departure board
- ✓Where you are in the flight, and how long until the bumpy stretch is behind you
Delta Air Lines safety questions
How safe is Delta Air Lines?
No passenger or crew member has died in an accident on a Delta mainline flight since 1996 — thirty years. On airlines like Delta, 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 Delta Air Lines' 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 Delta Air Lines does.
Has Delta ever had a plane crash?
Yes. Its last fatal crash was flight 1141 at Dallas/Fort Worth in 1988, and its last fatal accident of any kind on its own flights was in 1996. The deadliest since was Comair 5191 in 2006, a Delta Connection flight run by a regional partner.
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.
- Delta 10-K 2025 Fleet, centennial
- Delta Founding (1925)
- IATA IOSA registry IOSA registration (read 30 Sep 2026)
- NTSB Flight 1288
- NTSB Comair 5191
- Wikipedia Accidents before 1970, flight 523 (fallback)
- IATA IOSA registry IOSA registration (checked 30 Sep 2026)
- MIT News / Journal of Air Transport Management (Barnett, 2024) risk per flight 2018–2022
Flying Delta Air Lines soon?
FlyBud shows the exact aircraft on your flight and the turbulence forecast for your route.