British Aerospace · Regional jet
BAe 146
Is the BAe 146 safe? It ranks Shared rankWithin 1 point of other aircraft types: the difference is not meaningful.More in the glossary of 53 airliner families we rate, with 4 fatal accidents counted in about 6.3 million passenger flights.
How the score is built
- Fatal passenger accidents
- 4 in 6.3 million flights
0.64 fatal passenger accidents per million flights. Counted: passenger flights, accidents and unexplained losses; not counted: sabotage, hijackings, shoot-downs and deliberate crew acts.
- Full-loss equivalents
- 2
Each counted accident adds the share of people on board who died (1 = no survivors). This is what the score is based on.
- Flights flown
- 6.3 million
Estimated passenger departures. Passenger departures 1983 to 7 October 2026 from a fleet model: deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 25 years and about 1,366 departures per aircraft per year (average of similar types in OpenSky). OpenSky sees too few of these aircraft. Uncertainty roughly ±50%.
- Technology generation
- Gen 2 jet (integrated autoflight, analogue cockpit)
Small fleets are pulled toward the record of their generation: 0.88 full-loss equivalents per million flights over 236 million flights. Weight of this family's own record: 68%.
- Last fatal passenger accident
- 10 October 2006
Atlantic Airways flight RC670, Stord-Sørstokken Airport (SRP), Norway: 4 of 16 people on board died.
- Hull losses
- 12
Civil aircraft destroyed or written off from all causes, including non-fatal accidents, cargo flights and attacks; airframes flown by air forces on military operations are left out (context only, not in the score).
Compared with everyday risks
One flight on the BAe 146 carries about the same risk of death as the activities near it below.
- An hour's walk1 in 14 million
- Driving 100 miles (160 km)1 in 5.9 million
- One flight on the BAe 146This aircraft1 in 2 million
- A day of skiing1 in 1.3 million
- An ordinary day: accidents and violence1 in 1 million
- A scuba dive1 in 500,000
- Cycling 100 miles (160 km)1 in 430,000
- Running a marathon1 in 290,000
- A skydive1 in 250,000
- A general anaesthetic1 in 100,000
- Riding a motorbike 100 miles (160 km)1 in 83,000
Accident history
4 fatal accidents count toward the score, with 118 people on board killed.
| Date | Flight | Killed | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Airways RC670BAe-146-200A · Stord-Sørstokken Airport (SRP), Norway | 4 / 16 on board | Landing at Stord on a damp ungrooved runway, none of the lift spoilers deployed and the locked wheels skidded on reverted rubber. The jet ran off the end down a steep rocky slope, and fire spread into the cabin while one engine kept running.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Paukn AirBAe-146-100 · 15,3 km N of Melilla Airport (MLN), Morocco | 38 / 38 on board | Descending toward Melilla in cloud, the crew went below the minimum safe altitude over high ground and did not react to GPWS alerts as required before hitting a hillside. The commission cited disregard of the arrival procedure and poor crew coordination.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| China Northwest AirlinesBAe-146-300 · Yinchuan Airport (INC), China | 56 / 113 on board | The jet did not rotate at the normal speed; the pilot pulled the nose up, scraping the tail, but it never became airborne and ran into earth banks and shallow water. Takeoff flaps had been selected but had not extended.Type: System failureASN record | |
| LAN ChileBAe-146-200A · Puerto Williams Airport (WPU), Chile | 20 / 72 on board | The captain switched to a direct approach for the opposite runway and touched down fast and long on the short wet strip; the jet overran into the Beagle Channel. Investigators cited poor planning and landing technique.Type: Runway excursionASN record |
Listed but not counted
These events did not happen on regular passenger flights or were caused by a crime or a deliberate act, which says little about the aircraft design.
| Date | Flight | Killed | Why not counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aviastar MandiriBAe-146-300 · 6,5 km NW of Wamena (WMX), Indonesia | 6 / 6 on board | Cargo flight. Cargo flight that struck a hill while approaching Wamena visually under low cloud, off to the right of the runway line. Investigators found the crew seemed unaware of the terrain until too late and ignored repeated ground proximity alerts.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Pacific Southwest Airlines - PSA PS1771BAe-146-200 · ca 19 km SW of Paso Robles, CA, United States of America | 43 / 43 on board | Unlawful interference (sabotage, hijacking or shoot-down). A sacked USAir employee used his staff pass to carry a gun past screening and boarded the flight his former supervisor was on. He shot the crew, and the jet dived into a hillside near Paso Robles. Lax airline security was cited as a factor.Type: SecurityASN record |
The BAe 146 is a sturdy short-field jet with a modest fatal record that comes mostly from where it flew. Up to 7 October 2026 it has had 6 fatal events, 4 of which count, in about 6 million passenger flights. Three of the four were approaches or landings at difficult airports, and none led to a lasting change in the design. Today it rarely carries passengers.
What the BAe 146 is
British Aerospace's 146 first flew in 1981 and entered service in 1983. It has a high wing, a T-tail and four small Lycoming ALF502 turbofans, and no thrust reversers: a large split airbrake in the tail cone and lift spoilers on the wing slow it down. The 146-100, -200 and -300 seat about 70 to 112. The design was built for short, steep approaches and quiet operation, and for years it was one of the few jets allowed into London City Airport. The freighter version, the 146QT, flew night mail and parcels across Europe.
221 were built before the updated Avro RJ replaced it in production in 1993.
Where it still flies
About 30 remain in service. Large operators such as PSA and US Air in California, Ansett and National Jet in Australia, Dan-Air and British Airways' regional arms retired theirs long ago. Atlantic Airways of the Faroe Islands, which flew the type into short fjord runways, has also replaced it. Most remaining 146s carry freight or have been converted to firefighting air tankers. If you are booked on one, it is most likely a charter, so check the operator rather than the airframe.
The fatal record
- 20 February 1991, LAN Chile 1069, Puerto Williams: the captain changed runway late, touched down long and fast on a short wet runway with a downslope, and the aircraft overran into the Beagle Channel. 20 of 72 died.
- 23 July 1993, China Northwest Airlines, Yinchuan: on take-off the aircraft did not rotate at the planned speed. The flaps had been selected but had not extended. It dragged its tail, ran off the end and ended in shallow water. 56 of 113 died.
- 25 September 1998, Paukn Air 4101, Melilla: the crew descended below the minimum safe altitude in cloud over the hills near the Spanish enclave, and the aircraft hit high ground seconds after the ground proximity warning sounded. All 38 died.
- 10 October 2006, Atlantic Airways 670, Stord, Norway: the lift spoilers did not deploy on landing on a damp runway. The emergency brakes, which have no anti-skid, locked the wheels, and the aircraft slid off the end and down a rocky slope. 4 of 16 died.
Two other fatal events do not count. On 7 December 1987, PSA 1771 crashed in California after a passenger shot the pilots; all 43 died. In 2009 an Aviastar Mandiri cargo flight hit a mountain near Wamena in Papua, killing all 6 crew. Our methodology explains why acts of violence and cargo flights are left out.
The aircraft or the operating environment?
Mostly the environment. Puerto Williams, Stord and Melilla are short or hilly airports with weather that punishes errors, and the 146 was chosen for them precisely because it could use short runways. Yinchuan is the one case where a system failure was central, although the take-off still went ahead with the flaps up. Over its life the 146 had other known problems, including engine power loss in ice crystal conditions at high altitude and cabin smells from engine oil in the air supply, which led to fixes and inspections rather than fatal crashes.
How to tell if you are on one
Flight trackers show B461, B462 or B463 for the three lengths. Four engines under a high wing and a T-tail mark both the 146 and its sibling the Avro RJ, whose codes start with RJ. Compare its record with the twin-engine Fokker 100, a contemporary that served similar routes.
Questions people ask
Is the BAe 146 still flying passengers?
Only a handful. Of 221 built, about 30 remain in service, and most of those are freighters or firefighting air tankers. The airlines that flew it in Europe, the US and Australia have retired it, so a passenger flight on one today is usually a charter.
Why does the BAe 146 have four engines?
It was designed in the 1970s as a quiet jet for short runways and small city airports. Four small engines gave it enough thrust for steep approaches and short take-offs while staying quiet, hence the nickname Whisper Jet. The price was higher fuel and maintenance costs, which is why twin-engine regional jets replaced it.
What happened on PSA flight 1771?
On 7 December 1987 a recently fired airline employee boarded the BAe 146 with a gun, shot his former supervisor and then the pilots, and the aircraft dived into the ground in California. All 43 on board died. It was a crime, not an accident, so it does not count in our score. It led to tighter screening of airline staff in the US.
What is the difference between the BAe 146 and the Avro RJ?
The Avro RJ is the 1990s update of the 146, with the same airframe, new engines with digital control and a modern cockpit. The RJ70, RJ85 and RJ100 match the 146-100, -200 and -300 in length. Our data treats them as two families.
Sources
- 1.ASN record: China Northwest Airlines BAe 146-300, Yinchuan, 23 July 1993 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 2.ASN record: LAN Chile flight 1069, Puerto Williams, 20 February 1991 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 3.ASN record: Paukn Air flight 4101, near Melilla, 25 September 1998 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 4.ASN record: Atlantic Airways flight 670, Stord, 10 October 2006 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 5.ASN record: PSA flight 1771, near Paso Robles, 7 December 1987 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 6.SafetyScorer fleet model (World Bank departures, OpenSky averages) (opens in a new tab)Passenger departures 1983 to 7 October 2026 from a fleet model: deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 25 years and about 1,366 departures per aircraft per year (average of similar types in OpenSky). OpenSky sees too few of these aircraft. Uncertainty roughly ±50%.