An Applied Statistical Study of Commercial Aircraft Safety: Comparative Analysis of Boeing and Airbus

An Applied Statistical Study of Commercial Aircraft Safety: Comparative Analysis of Boeing and Airbus | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Method Article An Applied Statistical Study of Commercial Aircraft Safety: Comparative Analysis of Boeing and Airbus Tabassum Unnisa This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8999768/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Commercial aviation safety assessments often rely on raw accident statistics, which can lead to misleading conclusions when differences in operational exposure are not considered. This study presents an applied statistical analysis of commercial aircraft safety through a comparative evaluation of Boeing and Airbus aircraft using historical aviation accident data. Trend analysis, severity analysis, and statistical modeling were conducted to examine accident frequency and fatality patterns observed in the raw dataset. Initial analysis of unnormalized data indicates a higher number of recorded accidents for Boeing aircraft when compared to Airbus, reflecting differences in fleet size, flight volume, and years of operation rather than inherent safety characteristics. To address this imbalance, normalization techniques were applied to adjust accident counts based on operational exposure, specifically incorporating fleet size, flight volume, and duration of service. Statistical hypothesis testing using chi-square and Poisson-based models was employed to evaluate whether observed differences remain significant after normalization. The results demonstrate that when these exposure-related factors are jointly considered, both manufacturers exhibit comparable safety performance, with no statistically significant disparity in accident occurrence. This study highlights the importance of exposure-adjusted statistical frameworks for reliable aviation safety assessment and contributes to applied engineering research by promoting evidence-based evaluation over perception-driven conclusions. Analysis Aviation Safety Applied Statistical Analysis Aircraft Accident Analysis Operational Exposure Normalization Boeing Airbus Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files Screenshot20260301at1.09.29PM.png Screenshot20260301at1.09.29PM.png Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8999768","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Method Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":598726990,"identity":"4514b9ad-93c8-4846-af91-45e5a8b1c162","order_by":0,"name":"Tabassum Unnisa","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZiD+wMCQABdgI0YL44wEkrSAdPEgayEIzNnZH362/WGXx99//JnUzbY7eXz8hx8w/KjYhlOLZTOPsXROQnKxxI0cM+nctmfFbBJpBow9Z27j1GJwmIcBqIU5seEGDxtQy+HENgkGA2bGNnxa2B//tkioT5x//vgziBb+4x8IaGEwk2ZIOJy44UCCGUQLQw4hW3jMLHvSjhcb3sgxts45B3JYTsFBvH45f/zxjR821Xly548/vJ1Tdjhxfv/xjQ9+VODWgh0cIFH9KBgFo2AUjAI0AAA4RFbuyu531QAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3967-7304","institution":"Independent researcher","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tabassum","middleName":"","lastName":"Unnisa","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-01 07:17:32","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":true,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8999768/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8999768/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104400778,"identity":"04912e63-3fc7-4fbf-a03a-d5e2d2597c8a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-11 12:11:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":576113,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"TabassumunnisaReseacrchpaper.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8999768/v1_covered_b2edc486-2905-4162-b6b0-b9d9df42feaf.pdf"},{"id":103802468,"identity":"4c5cc193-a833-41b3-96d5-cfd8ba323d46","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-03 06:21:26","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":316177,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Screenshot20260301at1.09.29PM.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8999768/v1/c4009b1acd90211bbfff34ff.png"},{"id":103802469,"identity":"4837af53-0a12-47f0-9924-f69e4889b015","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-03 06:21:26","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":316177,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Screenshot20260301at1.09.29PM.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8999768/v1/1abdbcfb3abddecf0b435b96.png"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eAn Applied Statistical Study of Commercial Aircraft Safety: Comparative Analysis of Boeing and Airbus\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"independent research ","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Aviation Safety, Applied Statistical Analysis, Aircraft Accident Analysis, Operational Exposure Normalization, Boeing, Airbus","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8999768/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8999768/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCommercial aviation safety assessments often rely on raw accident statistics, which can lead to misleading conclusions when differences in operational exposure are not considered. 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