Asiana Airlines

Is Asiana Airlines safe?

Yes, but its record is weaker than its new owner's. Asiana has had no fatal accident since OZ214 at San Francisco in 2013, and it is IOSA-registeredIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary and overseen by a regulator with FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary status. We score it 73, against 84 for Korean Air. Between 2011 and 2015 Asiana lost three aircraft, two of them with deaths, and two of the three were crew errors on approach.

Asiana is about to disappear

This page has a short shelf life. Korean Air bought control of Asiana in December 2024, and the two signed a merger contract in May 2026. From 17 December 2026 they fly as one airline under Korean Air's air operator's certificate, according to CAPA. Asiana leaves Star Alliance on 16 December.

The OZ code is still on sale while we write this (October 2026), so the flight lookup still matches OZ flights to this page. That will not last. Asiana's OZ flight numbers are being changed to KE numbers in stages through November and early December; Seoul to Seattle switched first, on 12 October 2026. After the merger, a flight on an Asiana-painted aircraft is a Korean Air flight, run under Korean Air's procedures, training and maintenance. For that flight, the Korean Air page is the one that applies.

OZ214 and the other losses

On 6 July 2013, OZ214, a Boeing 777-200ER from Seoul, came in too low and too slow on a visual approach to runway 28L at San Francisco on a clear day; the runway's glideslope was out of service. The main gear and tail hit the seawall, the tail broke off and the aircraft spun before coming to rest. Three passengers died and 48 people were seriously injured. The NTSB blamed the crew's mismanagement of the descent, an unintended disconnection of automatic speed control and a late go-around. It also faulted Boeing's documentation and Asiana's training on the autothrottle, and crew fatigue.

Two years earlier, on 28 July 2011, OZ991, a 747-400 freighter bound for Shanghai, reported a fire on the main deck and crashed into the sea west of Jeju, killing both pilots. Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) found that the fire started on or near pallets of dangerous goods, including lithium-ion batteries, though it could not prove the cause.

On 14 April 2015, OZ162, an Airbus A320, hit the approach antennas short of the runway at Hiroshima in shifting fog and was written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary; 27 people had minor injuries. Japan's investigators found that the captain had continued below decision altitude without seeing the runway, and that the first officer had not called a go-around. They pointed to weak training on rule compliance and crew resource management.

The older history includes OZ733, a Boeing 737-500 that crashed on approach to Mokpo on 26 July 1993, killing 68 of the 116 people on board.

Since 2015

The record since Hiroshima is quieter. The accidents in the Aviation Safety Network data are turbulence injuries to cabin crew, in 2021 on a domestic 767 flight and in 2023 on a 777 from Sydney. In the 2021 case, ARAIB said the crew had not done enough to avoid the turbulence.

What Asiana flies

AviationOutlook counted 67 active aircraft averaging about 10.7 years in June 2026: 15 Airbus A350-900s, 14 A330-300s, 8 Boeing 777-200ERs and 6 A380s, plus A321s and freighters. The A350s are new; the A330s and 777s are well into their second decade. The A380s are due to leave the fleet before the merger.

Who should be careful

• Booked on OZ for December 2026 or later? Expect your flight number to change to KE. Check the booking before you fly, and check which aircraft you are on.
• Keep your seat belt on when seated. Turbulence is the only cause of injury accidents at Asiana in the last ten years.

How we scored it

The accident record (64) is the main drag: two fatal accidents and a third write-offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary in the 20 years we look at, all between 2011 and 2015. Oversight (84) and the Incheon-based environment (86) are good. The fleet (74) is older than Korean Air's. Compare Jeju Air, whose 2024 Muan crash was far deadlier.