British Aerospace · Turboprop
BAe ATP
Is the BAe ATP safe? It ranks #0 of 53 airliner families we rate, with 2 fatal accidents counted in about 1 million passenger flights.
How the score is built
- Fatal passenger accidents
- 2 in 1 million flights
2 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
- 1.3
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
- 1 million
Estimated passenger departures. Passenger departures 1988 to 7 October 2026 from a fleet model: deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 16 years and about 998 departures per aircraft per year (average of similar types in OpenSky). OpenSky sees too few of these aircraft because they were retired before 2019. Uncertainty roughly ±50%.
- Technology generation
- Modern turboprop (designed from the 1980s)
Small fleets are pulled toward the record of their generation: 0.92 full-loss equivalents per million flights over 80.3 million flights. Weight of this family's own record: 25%.
- Last fatal passenger accident
- 11 December 1999
SATA Air Açores, São Jorge Island, Azores, Portugal: 35 of 35 people on board died.
- Hull losses
- 5
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 ATP 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
- A day of skiing1 in 1.3 million
- An ordinary day: accidents and violence1 in 1 million
- One flight on the BAe ATPThis aircraft1 in 990,000
- 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
2 fatal accidents count toward the score, with 50 people on board killed.
| Date | Flight | Killed | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| SATA Air AçoresATP · São Jorge Island, Azores, Portugal | 35 / 35 on board | After changing its route because of a frontal system, the crew descended in cloud toward the channel between Pico and São Jorge and flew into a mountainside on São Jorge. Investigators cited failure to keep a safe altitude, poor dead reckoning and weak use of the weather radar.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Merpati Nusantara AirlinesATP · 1,5 km S of Tanjung Pandan-Bulutumbang Airport (TJQ), Indonesia | 15 / 53 on board | Descending through 2,000 ft on approach, the aircraft reportedly rolled into a steep left bank; control was lost and it crashed into a coconut grove. One propeller was found feathered.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record |
The BAe ATP was a British answer to the ATR 72 that never caught on, and its passenger days are over. Up to 7 October 2026 it has 2 fatal passenger accidents in about 1 million passenger flights, a rough figure for a small fleet that flew mostly before modern tracking. One was a navigation error into a mountain, the other a loss of control whose cause the public record does not settle. With only 65 built, two accidents weigh heavily on its numbers.
What the ATP is
British Aerospace built the ATP (Advanced Turbo-Prop) from the Hawker Siddeley 748, an airliner of the 1960s. It first flew in 1986 and entered service with British Midland in 1988. The fuselage was stretched to seat about 68, the wing was longer, and Pratt & Whitney Canada PW126 engines turned large six-blade propellers. Those propellers turned slowly, which made the cabin quiet for a turboprop of its time. It has a low wing, unlike the ATR and the Dash 8, and conventional flight controls.
Sales were poor. The ATR 72 and the Dash 8 took most orders, and production ended in the mid-1990s after 65 aircraft. A freighter conversion, the ATP-F, gave many of them a second life.
Who flew it, and why you cannot now
British Midland, Manx Airlines, British Regional Airlines and Loganair used it on UK domestic and Irish Sea routes, and British Airways flew it from Manchester in the 1990s. Abroad, SATA Air Açores used it between the islands of the Azores, Merpati flew it in Indonesia and Biman in Bangladesh. Air Wisconsin flew it in the US as United Express. Most passenger fleets were replaced by the ATR 72 or regional jets by the 2000s.
The last ATPs carried cargo: West Atlantic in Europe until 2023, Deraya Air Taxi in Indonesia, and EnComm Aviation in Kenya flying humanitarian aid. In 2025 BAE Systems withdrew support for the ATP and started to give up its type certificate, aiming to finish by the end of 2026. In October 2025 the Guardian reported that EnComm's 12 aircraft could no longer be operated and its fleet was grounded. We know of no ATP still flying, so our data lists none in service. No ATP showed up in public ADS-B data (adsb.lol) on the evening of 10 October 2026, including EnComm's 5Y- registered aircraft, though a single snapshot cannot prove that none fly.
The two counted accidents
- 19 April 1997, Merpati Nusantara flight 106: approaching Tanjung Pandan from Jakarta, the ATP reportedly rolled into a steep left bank while descending through 2,000 ft. Control was lost and it crashed into a coconut grove and broke in three. One propeller was found feathered. 15 of the 53 on board died. The ASN record gives no published cause.
- 11 December 1999, SATA Air Açores flight 530M: flying from Ponta Delgada to Horta in a frontal system, the crew changed route to descend over the channel between Pico and São Jorge. In heavy rain and cloud the aircraft hit Pico da Esperança on São Jorge. The ground proximity warning sounded 17 seconds before impact. All 35 died. Portuguese investigators cited the failure to keep a safe altitude, poor dead reckoning and weak use of the weather radar.
Neither accident points to a design flaw on the current record. No other fatal ATP event exists, so nothing is excluded under our methodology.
The cargo years
Of the 5 ATPs Hull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary, three were freighters in landing accidents without deaths: a nose gear collapse at Chennai in 2007 and two Runway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary at Wamena in the Papua highlands in 2013 and 2015, a valley airport ringed by mountains. That reflects where old turboprops end up working more than the airframe itself. Compare the Fokker 50, a turboprop of the same era with a similar late career in Africa.
How to tell if you are on one
Flight trackers show the ICAO code ATP. In practice you will not be: no ATP is in passenger service, and the manufacturer ended support for the type in 2025.
Questions people ask
Has a BAe ATP ever crashed?
Yes, twice with passengers on board. On 19 April 1997 a Merpati Nusantara ATP lost control on approach to Tanjung Pandan in Indonesia, killing 15 of 53. On 11 December 1999 a SATA Air Açores ATP flew into a mountain on São Jorge in the Azores, killing all 35. Those are the only fatal ATP events up to 7 October 2026.
Can you still fly on a BAe ATP?
No. Passenger airlines had retired it by the 2010s, and the last aircraft flew cargo. In 2025 BAE Systems withdrew support for the type and began giving up its type certificate, and the Guardian reported that the last known operator, EnComm Aviation in Kenya, had to ground its 12 ATPs and stop its humanitarian cargo flights.
Is the ATP the same as the HS 748?
It is a development of it. British Aerospace stretched the Hawker Siddeley 748 fuselage, gave it a longer wing, modern Pratt & Whitney Canada PW126 engines and a glass cockpit, and seated about 64 to 72 passengers. The two types share only part of their structure.
Why did the ATP sell so badly?
It arrived in 1988 against the ATR 72 and the Dash 8, which were faster or newer designs. Only 65 were built before production ended in the mid-1990s.
Sources
- 1.ASN record: SATA Air Açores flight 530M, São Jorge, Azores, 11 December 1999 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 2.ASN record: Merpati Nusantara Airlines flight 106, Tanjung Pandan, 19 April 1997 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 3.ASN record: Deraya Air Taxi ATP-F landing accident, Wamena, 31 May 2013 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 4.UK's biggest weapons firm BAE grounds 'lifeline' aircraft delivering food aid (opens in a new tab) · The Guardian, 2025
- 5.World Bank: Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide (opens in a new tab) · World Bank
- 6.SafetyScorer fleet model (World Bank departures, OpenSky averages) (opens in a new tab)Passenger departures 1988 to 7 October 2026 from a fleet model: deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 16 years and about 998 departures per aircraft per year (average of similar types in OpenSky). OpenSky sees too few of these aircraft because they were retired before 2019. Uncertainty roughly ±50%.