Facts + Statistics: Man-made disasters

Man-made disasters

In 2016 there were 327 disaster events, of which 191 were natural disasters and 136 man-made disasters, according to Swiss Re. Natural catastrophes accounted for $46 billion in insured losses, while man-made disasters resulted in additional losses of about $8 billion. Major man-made catastrophes in 2016 included fires and explosions, maritime, aviation and rail disasters, and terrorism and social unrest. Turret failure in a floating storage and offloading vessel in Ghana and steam generator failure at a French nuclear power plant were the worst man-made disasters in 2016, both making the top 20 for losses, but Swiss Re did not release the loss value. Three incidents involving migrant boats capsizing claimed 776 lives. These incidents and a church roof collapse in Nigeria that caused 160 deaths were the deadliest man-made disasters in 2016. The September 11 terrorist attack in the U.S. was the costliest man-made disaster in history, based on Swiss Re data going back to 1970. It caused $25.1 billion in insured losses (in 2015 dollars).

Transportation accidents

There were 58 catastrophic disasters attributed to transportation incidents in 2016 according to Swiss Re, including 36 maritime disasters, 11 aviation disasters and 11 rail disasters. These events resulted in 2,298 deaths worldwide. Maritime disasters caused $2.5 billion in insured losses while aviation disasters caused another $248 million in insured losses. Losses for rail disasters resulted in another $87 million in insured losses. See Swiss Re chart on Man-Made Disasters below for further information.

World aviation accidents

In 2015 more than 3.5 billion people flew safely on 37.6 million flights, according to the International Air Transport Association. The global accident rate (as measured by the rate of hull losses on Western-built jets) was 0.32 in 2015, or about one major accident for every 3.1 million flights. This compares with an accident rate of 0.27 in 2014. A hull loss is an accident in which the aircraft is destroyed or substantially damaged and is not subsequently repaired. There were 68 accidents in 2015 (on Eastern- and Western-built aircraft), down from 77 in 2014. The Germanwings 9525 and Metrojet 9268 losses that resulted in the deaths of 374 passengers and crew are not included in the statistics because they were caused by deliberate acts of unlawful interference, namely pilot suicide and suspected terrorism.

The deadliest world aviation accident was the collision of two Boeing 747 passenger planes on the runway of an airport in the Spanish island of Tenerife in 1977. The crash resulted in the deaths of 583 out of 644 passengers according to the Geneva-based Aircraft Crashes Record Office’s list of Worst Aviation Accidents.

United States

In the United States the National Transportation Safety Board compiles data on aviation flight hours, accidents and fatalities for commercial and general aviation.

Commercial airlines are divided into two categories according to the type of aircraft used: aircraft with 10 or more seats and aircraft with fewer than 10 seats. The nonscheduled commercial aircraft with more than 10 seats are also called charter airlines. Commercial airlines flying aircraft with fewer than 10 seats include commuter (scheduled) airlines, and on-demand air taxis. General aviation includes all U.S. noncommercial or privately owned aircraft.

Marine accidents

Marine accidents killed 1,596 people and caused $2.5 billion in insured losses in 2016. In 2016, three maritime disasters made the top ten disasters of 2016 in terms of victims. In March, two boats carrying migrants capsized, one in Greece (Mediterranean Sea) resulting in 358 deaths and one in Libyan Arab Jamahiriya causing 240 deaths. In addition, in September a boat carrying migrants capsized in Egypt, killing 178 people. In 2012, 30 people were killed when the Costa Concordia cruise ship carrying 4,200 passengers went aground off the coast of Italy. The Costa Concordia incident was the costliest man-made disaster in 2012, causing $515 million in insured damages losses when it occurred. By mid-2014, insured losses for the disaster had risen to about $2 billion. The greatest maritime disaster in peacetime happened in December 1987, when the Philippine ferry, the Doa Paz, collided with the Vector, a small coastal oil tanker, according to the National Maritime Museum in the United Kingdom. Only 24 of the 4,317 Doa passengers survived. By contrast, 1,500 perished in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

Energy

Some 167 crew members lost their lives in a July, 1988 fire and explosion aboard the Piper Alpha oil platform in the North Sea. The incident, which caused property damage losses of $1.8 billion in 2013 dollars, represents the largest single property damage event in a Marsh’s study of losses in the energy industry from 1972 to 2013.

Large loss fires

The charts below show the costliest large-loss fires, many of which involve industrial facilities and other non-residential structures. The rankings are based on property loss data from the National Fire Protection Association.