Bizav Safety Record Worsened as 2010 Began

The number of accidents among business turboprops in the first quarter of 2010 was nearly double the number in the same period last year, according to Boca Raton, Fla.-based Robert E. Breiling Associates. In the first three months of this year, there were 15 turboprop accidents, three of which were fatal, resulting in seven deaths. In the same period last year, eight turboprop accidents occurred and three of those were fatal. The numbers were worst for the charter field, which suffered just two non-fatal accidents in the first quarter of last year but witnessed 10 accidents, including one fatal, in the first three months of 2010. The business jet category recorded just one accident during the first quarter of this year, the January 5 crash (see photo) of a Learjet 35A near Chicago that killed two pilots. That compares with three nonfatal crashes in the same time frame a year ago.