>it’s often the case that everyone on board dies. But not always, interestingly enough. The lede mentions the Tenerife disaster, which had 61 survivors out of

>it’s often the case that everyone on board dies. But not always, interestingly enough. The lede mentions the Tenerife disaster, which had 61 survivors out of 644, and Avianca Flight 52, which had 85 survivors out of 158. Most accidents occur during takeoff and landing, when altitude and relative velocity are low. Disasters caused by pure incompetence, like when the pilot of Air France 447 flew a fully functional plane into the Atlantic, are rare. So rare that the United States hasn't had a fatal crash of an airliner since 2009.