The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) investigates civil aviation occurrences that take place in or over Canada and any place that is under Canadian air traffic control. The TSB also investigates occurrences anywhere in the world that involve an aircraft operated by a person to whom a Canadian aviation document had been issued under Part I of the Aeronautics Act.
Since the TSB’s creation in 1990, Air Investigations Branch investigations and Board recommendations have led to numerous safety advancements in Canada and around the world, including: changes to prevent or reduce the consequences of inflight fires, improvements to reduce unstable approaches that continue to a landing, the requirement for terrain awareness and warning systems and improved post-crash survivability for seaplane occupants.
TSB air investigators come from a variety of backgrounds; they are certified as pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, air traffic controllers and airworthiness engineers. They all have varied and extensive experience in the aviation industry. As well as conducting investigations, our investigators participate in national and international government and industry groups to monitor safety trends and communicate safety issues to change agents.
Air transportation occurrences in 2023
Preliminary statistics on air transportation occurrences in 2023 show that a total of 1014 air transportation occurrences (accidents and incidents) were reported to the TSB, an increase of 14% over the previous year (893).
Of these occurrences, a total of 181 were aviation accidents, an increase from the 166 accidents reported in 2022, but 5% lower than the five-year average of 191. Nineteen of these were fatal, resulting in 33 fatalities compared to 24 fatal accidents and 34 fatalities in 2022.
Accidents involving commercial operators increased from 56 in 2022 to 78 in 2023, while those involving private operations (by recreational operators, holders of a private operator registration document, or others) decreased from 108 to 100.
Of the total occurrences, 833 were aviation incidents, which is an increase from the previous year (727) and above the five-year average (685).