The EASA safety review 2026 examines aviation events from 2025, not accidents occurring this year. In its October 26 announcement, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said performance was broadly stable or improved in most areas, while differences between types of operation required targeted safety work.
The report library lists October 22 as the publication date. EASA’s October 26 news release promotes the review and a new six-page summary. Those dates should not be confused with the year of the events analysed.
EASA safety review 2026: commercial aeroplane figures
The official summary, pages 2–3, gives these 2025 figures for commercial air transport using complex aeroplanes:
| Measure | 2025 total |
|---|---|
| Accidents | 17 |
| Fatal accidents, included in that total | 1 |
| Fatalities | 8 |
| Serious injuries | 17 |
| Serious incidents | 51 |
The fatal accident involved an air-taxi flight that crashed after declaring an emergency, the summary says. It does not identify a cause in that description; an emergency declaration is not itself a finding about why an aircraft crashed.
Which operations do these numbers cover?
The full report, pages 20–23, defines the category around EASA Air Operator Certificate holders and complex aeroplanes. It includes passenger and cargo operations, with examples such as airlines, air taxis and air ambulances.
Consequently, the figures should not be described as deaths on scheduled European passenger airlines alone, or as every accident physically occurring in Europe. Helicopters, smaller non-commercial aeroplanes and other activities have separate sections.
What risks does EASA highlight?
The commercial-aeroplane summary lists fire, smoke and pressurisation; aircraft upset; airborne collision; runway collision; and excursion among its leading risks. That ordering comes from risk-scored occurrences during 2023–2025. It is a different measure from simply counting 2025 accidents.
The summary also connects the analysis with safety topics including onboard lithium-battery fires, adverse weather and runway incursions. EASA says the review feeds its safety-risk management process and the European Plan for Aviation Safety.
What should readers take from the review?
Read the operating category and time period before comparing totals. The summary warns against using absolute counts to compare domains with different activity levels and operating environments. The full report also explains that collection methods and definitions can differ between organisations.
This publication is an assessment of recorded events and safety priorities, not a live flight-status notice or an airline league table. It does not establish that a named carrier is safer than another or predict the outcome of an individual journey.
Explore our safety and investigation coverage for separately sourced reports on individual events and official findings.
Checked October 26, 2026, against EASA’s announcement, summary and relevant methodology and commercial-aeroplane sections. Figures above concern 2025 within the stated scope.
Archive/context: Cologne Bonn Airport Terminal 1, September 20, 2016. Photo: Dguendel via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Resized and compressed. Illustrative airport photograph, not an accident site, EASA headquarters or a current operating-status image.
