No survivors from ERJ-190 crash in Namibia

29 November 2013; LAM ERJ-190AR; C9-EMC; flight 470; Bwabwata National Park, Namibia: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Maputo, Mozambique, to Luanda, Angola, and crashed in northern Namibia near the borders of Botswana and Angola. All 27 passengers and six crew members were killed in the crash.

About the ERJ-190
This was the second ERJ-190 event involving passenger fatalities. The first was an August 2010 crash in China involving a Henan Airlines ERJ-190. 44 of the 96 occupants were killed. The ERJ-190 series, which includes the ERJ-195, first flew in 2004, and according the AirFleets.net, over 600 have been produced. The US airline with the largest fleet is JetBlue, with about 59 ERJ-190 aircraft.

About airline
LAM (LAM Mozambique Airlines) is the national airline of Mozambique, and currently has six remaining aircraft, including four 737s and two other ERJ-190s. The European Union bans all airlines from Mozambique, including LAM, from operating in the EU. The FAA, which provides safety ratings for national civil aviation authorities, have not provided a rating for Mozambique because it has been at least four years since any airline from that country has provided air transport service to the US, have had any code share arrangements with US air carriers, or have had any significant interaction with the FAA.

Additional resources
ERJ crashes

Over 40 killed in airliner crash in China

24 August 2010; Henan Airlines ERJ-190; B-3130; flight VD8387; Yichun, China: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Harbin to Yichun, China. The aircraft broke up and caught fire after it overran the runway after landing. At the time of the crash, there was fog in the area and limited visibility. The aircraft carried five crew members and 91 passengers, and 43 of the occupants were killed. At least one flight crew member survived.

Embraer 190 Crash History
This was the first crash of an Embraer 190 that resulted in the death of at least one airline passenger. This is also the first fatal airliner crash involving any of the Embraer jet airliner models (ERJ 170/175 and ERJ 19-/195). According to AirFleets.net, there are over 650 Embraer jets in service. This was also the first fatal plane crash involving an airline from China since 2004.

About Henan Airlines
Henan Airlines is operated by Shenzhen Airlines, and was formerly known as Kunpeng Airlinesbegan flight operations in October 2007, and prior to the crash had a fleet of about four ERJ-190 aircraft.

Related resources
Plane crashes involving airlines from the People's Republic of China
Follow up story about aviation safety in China from Blue Ocean Network


Photo: AFP
Map Graphic: BBC

Jet Airliners with Lowest Fatal Crash Rates

The previous entry on the AirSafe.com News described the September 2009 update AirSafe.com's listing of fatal plane crash rates by model. The video and audio podcast below discusses the aircraft models with the lowest rates. There are links to the video on YouTube and to downloadable versions of the podcast in MP3, MP4, and WMV formats.

Video and Audio Podcast Links (2:57)

Audio: MP3 | Video: iPod/MP4 | WMV | YouTube

Additional Resources
Plane Crash Rates by Model
Recent Fatal Plane Crashes

Five Lowest Jet Airliner Crash Rates

Listen to the audio podcast of this article

In its latest update of fatal plane crash rates by aircraft model, AirSafe.com has identified the top five models with the lowest fatal crash rates. The analysis uses flight data through the end of 2008, and crash data through August 2009.

Computing these crash rates was based on more than just the number of fatal crashes. The formula that was used also looked at the proportion of passengers killed in each crash. For example, if an airliner model had two fatal crashes in two million flights, and all the passengers were killed in one crash and half in the second, then the rate would be 1.5 planeloads killed divided by two million flights, or 0.75 per million flights.

Candidates for the AirSafe.com top five ranking were limited to jet airliner models with at least two million flights through the end of 2008. Only events that killed passengers were counted.

At number five is the Canadair Regional Jet, number four is the previous generation of the Boeing 737, which includes the 737-300, 737-400, and 737-500. Number three was the Airbus A320 series, number two is the current generation of the Boeing 737, which includes the 737-600, 737-700, 737-800, and 737-900 aircraft.

Topping the list at number one is the Boeing 777. In service since 1995, this model has had just over two million flights and no fatal crashes.

Four other jet aircraft models all have less than two million flights, and like the 777 have not been involved in a crash that has killed passengers. Two are from Airbus, the A340 and A380, and the other two are the Embraer 170 and 190. These last two aircraft types are smaller jets frequently used by regional carriers in North America and Europe.

For more information on fatal plane crash rates, including details on how the rates are calculated, please visit rates.airsafe.org.