According to Boeing, there are ten major commercial pure jet aircraft that can claim to be the world's safest after never recording a passenger fatality.
The annual Boeing Statistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents Worldwide Operations 1959 – 2016 lists the following aircraft as having a fatality free record; Boeing 717 (formerly the MD95), CRJ700/900/1000 regional jet, A380 superjumbo, Boeing 787, Boeing 747-8, Airbus A350, Bombardier C Series, A340 and the Airbus A320 NEO series, while the Boeing 737 MAX series has since entered service and has not been involved in an accident.
It should be noted that the CSeries, A320NEO, and B737MAX have only recently started to be delivered so the in-service numbers are small.
Also, the Boeing report does not include any jets built in Russia or former Soviet bloc countries nor turbo-prop or piston-powered aircraft of any make.
The Airbus A350, operated by many airlines including Singapore Airlines is one of the world's safest with a perfect record. Credit Airbus
Other aircraft that have excellent safety records are Boeing 737NG series with 0.09 fatal crashes per one million departures (PMD), Boeing 767 (0.10), Airbus A320 series (0.11), Boeing 777 (0.20), Boeing 757 (0.20) and Airbus A330 (0.21).
These accident rates are a fraction of the first jets such as the Boeing 707 which has a fatal crash rate of 4.28 per million departures.
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Even the early models of the mighty 747 have a crash rate of 1.46.
The Boeing report also shows up how a range of technologies, such as sophisticated, highly computerized cockpits, have dramatically improved aircraft safety.
Take the world’s most successful jet, the Boeing 737, with over 14,300 sold, which was first introduced to service in 1967s. The initial models had a fatal crash rate of 0.89 PMD.
The cockpit of the first Boeing 737 models of 1967. The crash rate was 0.89 PMD.
The upgraded 737-300/400/500 (Classics) which appeared in 1984 had a crash rate of 0.25, while the 737 NG (New Generation) models which entered service in 1998, have a crash rate of just 0.09.
Cockpit of the latest Boeing 737MAX which has a perfect record. Credit: Boeing
The latest version, the 737 MAX series, which was introduced last year, has a flawless record thus far.
