Aircraft/Boeing
Is the Boeing 737-800 safe?
The honest safety record for the Boeing 737-800, straight from the accident data. Context, not spin.
Informational only. Not safety, operational, or travel advice. These are estimates from public records, provided as-is; see our terms & disclaimer.
0.12
modelled fatal rate / million flights
95.0M
flights flown since 1998
11 / 20
fatal accidents / hull losses on record
The rate is the model's shrinkage-adjusted estimate, the same figure used in a flight's score, not a raw count ÷ flights ratio. See the methodology.
Specifications
What the record shows
Strong safety record relative to its enormous fleet size, the most-flown narrowbody in history. Most incidents involve human factors or external events, not aircraft design. Its deadliest accident is recent: Jeju Air 2216 (Muan, December 2024, 179 deaths), whose investigation is still open.
Engine programme: CFM56-7B, among the most proven engines in aviation history (tens of millions of flights).
Accidents on record
2024: Belly landing after a bird strike and loss of both engines' normal function; overran the runway into a concrete localizer mounting
Muan, South Korea · 179 fatalities
2020: Shot down by Iranian military missile shortly after takeoff
Tehran · 176 fatalities
2016: Crashed during go-around in adverse weather
Rostov-on-Don · 62 fatalities
Who flies the Boeing 737-800, and how old theirs are
Counted from individual airframes in our registry, with build years from public registries and sourced references. An age appears only where we can date at least three of that airline's Boeing 737-800 aircraft; otherwise we say so rather than estimate.
The oldest Boeing 737-800 we can date in an airline fleet was built in 1998, about 28 years ago. The oldest airframes of a type reach every inspection milestone first. How planes are checked
| Airline | In our registry | Average age |
|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 265 | 17.2 yrs |
| Southwest Airlines | 153 | 10.8 yrs |
| United Airlines | 136 | 22.8 yrs |
| Delta Air Lines | 77 | 25.2 yrs |
| Qantas | 76 | 18.5 yrs |
| Virgin Australia | 74 | 14.7 yrs |
| Gol Linhas Aéreas | 68 | 15.4 yrs |
| WestJet | 59 | 13.7 yrs |
| Alaska Airlines | 51 | 18.4 yrs |
| Japan Airlines | 45 | 16.7 yrs |
| Jeju Air | 41 | 17.6 yrs |
| All Nippon Airways | 37 | 14.1 yrs |