The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Eurostat, the European Union's statistical agency, have published the 2025 Annual Safety Review, covering accidents in EU territory or involving EU-registered aircraft.
The report says 116 people died in 2025 because of aviation accidents, including 79 in fixed-wing powered aircraft accidents. Helicopters and sailplanes accounted for 18 deaths each, and one death was recorded in a balloon accident.
This is higher than the 91 deaths reported in 2024. Of the 116 victims, 109 were in private non-commercial flights, including general and executive aviation.
The largest single incident of this type in 2025 involving an EU-linked aircraft was the December 2025 crash of a Malta-registered Falcon 50 jet near Ankara, Turkey, carrying an official Libyan delegation; eight people died, including the head of the Libyan army.
Among non-commercial accidents inside EU territory or airspace, France had the most deaths with 28, followed by Germany with 12, and Romania and Slovakia with six each.
Four people died in commercial operations in 2025, versus three in 2024 and none in 2023. Three more were killed in specialised aerial work such as crop-spraying, inspection flights and aerial photography.
The report warns that while figures remain relatively low, a single major accident can markedly change the picture. It says 2015 was the most recent year where commercial operations caused most EU-related deaths, due to the Eurowings flight 9525 crash in the French Alps. The number of people injured in 2025 was 143, down from 215 in 2024; 93 of those were in fixed-wing operations, with balloons and sailplanes at 19 and 17 respectively, helicopters 12, and two injuries in unmanned aircraft operations.
