Boeing · Wide-body jet
Boeing 777
Is the Boeing 777 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 3 fatal accidents counted in about 23 million passenger flights.
How the score is built
- Fatal passenger accidents
- 3 in 22.6 million flights
0.13 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
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
- 22.6 million
Estimated passenger departures. Passenger departures 1995 to 7 October 2026. 2019-2022: OpenSky flights by passenger airlines, re-weighted to World Bank departures country by country. Other years: fleet model (deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 36 years, about 974 departures per aircraft per year, calibrated on OpenSky 2019). Uncertainty roughly ±25%.
- Technology generation
- Gen 4 jet (fly-by-wire with flight envelope protection)
Small fleets are pulled toward the record of their generation: 0.041 full-loss equivalents per million flights over 328 million flights. Weight of this family's own record: 88%.
- Last fatal passenger accident
- 21 May 2024
Singapore Airlines flight SQ321, near Kanasoekone, Myaungmya District, Myanmar: 1 of 229 people on board died.
- Hull losses
- 8
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 Boeing 777 carries about the same risk of death as the activities near it below.
- One flight on the Boeing 777This aircraft1 in 22 million
- 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
- 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
3 fatal accidents count toward the score, with 243 people on board killed.
| Date | Flight | Killed | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore Airlines SQ321777-312ER · near Kanasoekone, Myaungmya District, Myanmar | 1 / 229 on board | Over southern Myanmar at 37,000 ft near developing storms, the 777 was lifted by an updraft and then jolted from +1.35G to -1.5G in under a second, throwing unbelted occupants upward. Dozens were hurt and the jet diverted to Bangkok.Type: TurbulenceASN record | |
| Malaysia Airlines MH370777-2H6ER · within Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean | 239 / 239 on board | The Boeing 777 disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and is believed to have ended in the southern Indian Ocean; the cause has not been established. All 239 on board are presumed dead.Cause not yet established; counted.Type: Unknown causeASN record | |
| Asiana Airlines OZ214777-28EER · San Francisco International Airport, CA (SFO), United States of America | 3 / 307 on board | On a visual approach to San Francisco the trainee captain inadvertently left the autothrottle inactive and the crew did not watch the airspeed. The jet sank low and slow, its tail hit the seawall and broke off. Three passengers died.Type: Landed short or longASN 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malaysia Airlines MH17777-2H6ER · Hrabove, Ukraine | 298 / 298 on board | Unlawful interference (sabotage, hijacking or shoot-down). Cruising at 33,000 ft over eastern Ukraine near an area of fighting, the 777 was hit by a Buk surface-to-air missile warhead that exploded beside the cockpit, and broke up in the air.Type: SecurityASN record |
The 777 is one of the safest long-haul jets ever built. In 31 years and about 22.6 million passenger flights, only two crashes have killed passengers: Asiana 214 at San Francisco in 2013 and MH370, which vanished over the Indian Ocean in 2014. Its most famous loss, MH17, was a shoot-down and does not count against the aircraft.
What the 777 is and where you fly on it
The 777 first flew in 1994 and entered service with United in 1995. It is Boeing's large twin-engine long-haul jet. Versions include the original 777-200 and -200ER, the longer 777-300, the ultra-long-range 777-200LR and the 777-300ER, which is the most common and seats about 300 to 400. About 1,780 have been built, freighters included, and about 1,600 are in service.
Emirates has the largest fleet. Air France, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, United and American all fly it on long routes.
Design features that matter for safety
The 777 was Boeing's first airliner with Fly-by-wireA flight control system in which the pilot's inputs go to computers, which then move the control surfaces. Many such systems also stop unsafe manoeuvres.More in the glossary controls. Boeing's version uses "soft" protections: the controls get heavier near the edge of the flight envelope, but pilots can override them. When the 777 entered service, regulators approved it from the start to fly up to 180 minutes from the nearest diversion airport, which opened long ocean routes to twin-engine jets.
Engine problems have caused scares, not deaths. In January 2008, British Airways 38 landed short at Heathrow when ice in the fuel blocked a heat exchanger in its Rolls-Royce engines; all 152 people survived and Rolls-Royce redesigned the part. In February 2021 a Pratt & Whitney PW4000 fan blade broke on a United 777 over Denver, and 777s with that engine were grounded for inspections.
The fatal record
Three events count up to 7 October 2026:
- 6 July 2013, Asiana 214, at San Francisco. The crew flew the approach too low and slow and hit the sea wall. 3 of 307 people died. The NTSB blamed the crew's handling of the approach and their poor monitoring of airspeed, and said that complex autothrottle modes, poorly explained in Boeing's documents and Asiana's training, made the mistake more likely.
- 8 March 2014, Malaysia Airlines 370, Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The aircraft turned back, flew for hours over the Indian Ocean and disappeared with all 239 on board. Malaysia's 2018 report could not say why. The main wreckage has not been found. We count it because the cause is unknown.
- 21 May 2024, Singapore Airlines 321, London to Singapore. Severe turbulence over Myanmar threw unbelted people against the ceiling. One passenger died and dozens were hurt.
We exclude MH17, shot down over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014 with 298 people on board, as our methodology does for all acts of unlawful interference. Emirates 521, which crashed on landing at Dubai in 2016, killed no one on board; all 300 got out, though a firefighter died.
How to tell if you are on one
Flight apps show the ICAO code: B772 for the 777-200 and -200ER, B77L for the -200LR (and the 777F freighter), B773 for the -300 and B77W for the -300ER. B778 and B779 are the 777X. On the ground, the 777 has two very large engines and six-wheel main landing gear.
On a 777, the most useful safety habit is the one SQ321 taught: keep your seatbelt fastened whenever you are seated, even when the sign is off.
Questions people ask
How many Boeing 777s have crashed?
Eight 777s have been 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 up to 7 October 2026. Four events killed someone on board. The two big losses were MH370, which disappeared in 2014, and MH17, shot down over Ukraine the same year. Asiana 214 killed 3 of 307 people, and severe turbulence on Singapore Airlines 321 killed one passenger in 2024.
Why is MH17 not counted in the 777's score?
MH17 was shot down by a missile over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, according to the Dutch Safety Board. Nothing about the aircraft caused or could have prevented it. We leave out shoot-downs, bombings and hijackings because they say little about how safe the aircraft type is, but MH17 still appears in the accident table.
Is the 777-300ER safe?
Yes. The 777-300ER is the most common 777 and the backbone of long-haul fleets at Emirates, Air France, Cathay Pacific and others. Its only fatal event up to October 2026 is one turbulence death on Singapore Airlines 321 in May 2024.
Is the Boeing 777X flying yet?
Not with passengers by our data cut-off of 7 October 2026. The 777-8 and 777-9 have been in flight testing, and their ICAO codes, B778 and B779, are already listed so flight apps can show them once they enter service.
Sources
- 1.ASN record: Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Indian Ocean, 8 March 2014 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 2.ASN record: Asiana Airlines flight OZ214, San Francisco, 6 July 2013 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 3.ASN record: Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Hrabove, Ukraine, 17 July 2014 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 4.ASN record: Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 turbulence, Myanmar, 21 May 2024 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 5.ASN record: British Airways flight BA38, London-Heathrow, 17 January 2008 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 6.SafetyScorer exposure model: OpenSky Network flights 2019-2022, World Bank departures, fleet model (opens in a new tab)Passenger departures 1995 to 7 October 2026. 2019-2022: OpenSky flights by passenger airlines, re-weighted to World Bank departures country by country. Other years: fleet model (deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 36 years, about 974 departures per aircraft per year, calibrated on OpenSky 2019). Uncertainty roughly ±25%.