The Top Five (5) Most Dangerous Airlines in the World

 

The past couple of years have not been good for aviation, at least not from a PR perspective. From the botched landing of Asiana flight 214 in late 2013, to the fatal crashes of not one, but two Malaysia Airlines 777s in 2014, to the tragic loss at sea of an Indonesia AirAsia plane just a few months ago, it seems like there's a major plane crash every time you turn on the news.

The good news is that in spite of how dangerous flying might seem to be, global aviation safety continues to improve, overall, year-over-year. The bad news? None of the world's most dangerous airlines make headlines, which means you may inadvertently board one of their planes without knowing.

Indonesia's Lion Air is one of the world's most dangerous airlines. Aero Icarus via Wikimedia Commons

1.  Lion Air

Although Indonesia AirAsia has come under a great deal of scrutiny since flight QZ8501 crashed in late 2014, it is not Indonesia's most dangerous, even if its overall safety rating prevents it from ever flying to the United States or European Union, a ban shared by fellow Indonesian carriers Garuda Indonesia, KALstar Aviation and Sriwijaya Air.
No, that dubious honor goes to Lion Air, who has suffered many hull losses during its time in operation, although only one of them ever made major headlines.

This is all that remains of doomed Nepal Airlines flight 183. Krish Dulal via Wikimedia Commons

2.  Nepal Airlines

It's difficult not to have empathy for pilots who land jets in Nepal, what with the Himalayas being there and all – some planes are bound to be less lucky than others. This is unfortunately true not only anecdotally but in reality, with Nepal Airlines in particular being dangerous.
Having experienced nearly a dozen fatal accidents in the past three decades, in spite of a relatively modest flight schedule, Nepal Airlines gets just one star (out of a potential seven) from AirlineRatings.com, a site which ranks airline safety using a number of metrics.

Afghanistan's Kam Air is one of the easiest dangerous airlines to avoid. Karla Marshall via Wikimedia Commons

3.  Kam Air

The only thing less likely than having heard about Kam Air is having the opportunity (or need, as it were) to fly it – based in Afghanistan, Kam Air is not an airline the average backpacker would fly these days, unless that backpack is owned by the U.S. military. Kam Air has only been in operation for a decade, but has already experienced fatal accidents resulting in more than 100 passenger deaths.

Tara Air operates exclusively within the Himalaya region of Nepal. Solundir via Wikimedia Commons

4.  Tara Air

Tara Air maintains just as low a profile, internationally speaking, as Kam Air, although it operates in Nepal instead of Afghanistan. Although only one Tara Air flight has resulted in passenger fatalities, the airline has only existed for six years, which raises serious questions about its overall safety.
Tara Air is relatively easy for most travelers to avoid, since it operates exclusively to rural destinations in Nepal, but if you want to explore the foothills of the Himalaya, and don't have the time to endure the long overland journey from Kathmandu, you may find yourself with little choice but to fly Tara Air.

SCAT's planes might not look like its namesake, but the airline's safety record does. Maarten Visser via Wikimedia Commons

5.  SCAT Airlines

Kazakhstan-based SCAT Airlines' name doesn't do it any favors, even if you except the fact that its name is an acronym for something rather innocuous: "Special Cargo Air Transport." Unfortunately, SCAT's air record is just as smelly as what you think of when you first hear its name, but not because of how many fatal crashes it's suffered (just one) since it began operations in 1997.
Rather, the European Commission's decision to blacklist SCAT stems from an overall lack of confidence in its regulatory processes, which has spilled over onto other Kazakh airlines.