No of Crashes A320 vs 737

[Founder]

I might be wrong but it's very seldom that you hear about an A320 hitting the ground. But on the other hand it seams that at almost every big airline crash there is a 737 involved...

Why is that?

Now I know that there are a lot more 737's flying than A320 scince they've been built for a longer period of time but still,... and I know that every event different but still the no speaks for them selves...

Are A320's safer than 737's?

Here are some statistics from Airdisaster.com
B737: 57 events since 1988
http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/search_keyword.cgi?search=737

A320: 7 events since 1988
http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/search_keyword.cgi?search=a320

[The African Dude]

Now I know that there are a lot more 737's flying than A320 You answer your own question. Just because they were both being built in 1988, doesn't mean there were the same number of each flying.

[Founder]

You answer your own question. Just because they were both being built in 1988, doesn't mean there were the same number of each flying.

Yea but in the events I posted airbus only stands for 9% of them all...

Looking at recent years, there hasn't been an A320 event since the year 2000 according to Airdisaster.com... And still there has been 19 B737 events during the same time... there must be a reason for that...?

[Bally Heck]

Lots of very old 737s flying around third world countries with doubtful maintenance and poorly trained crews in some cases?

[qwertyuiop]

I believe that Airbus were very selective in customers when the 320 series launched. Niether is safer than the other, they are just different. The 737 is a very simple aircraft that is easy to understand, the 320 series is a sophisticated aircraft that can lead to confusion. Both superb machines.

[Wander]

Was in Toulouse last summer whilst Airbus popped a few corks to celebrate the delivery of their 2500th A320 "family" a/c, to China East Airlines. At the time I thought they said that that means they've outsold the 737. I remember being surprised, if that was the case!:rolleyes:

[Rainboe]

Over 5000 737s now. I think you mistook annual sales for a year rather than outright total sales.

[CaptYanknBank]

I heard something about Airbus A320 outselling the B737.

I think, (I may be wrong) it was something along the lines of the A320-200 being one Mark has outsold the B737 Classic or NG as one Mark.
I cant check on the figures right now..........

Overall of course, the B737 has far and away outsold the A320 family but it has been in production much longer.

Both great machines at what they do.

Cheers.
CY&B

[CaptainSandL]

I think we all know that statistics can be used to backup whichever side of the argument that you are on. I am a 737 fan so let me address some of the concerns raised by the original post

The 737 has been flying for 39 years with over 5,000 built, since then 111 have been written off in flying accidents. (This excludes incidents such as hijack, sabotage, fire, collision etc). This is a greater time period and more aircraft built than all of the Airbus models put together, so inevitably, in absolute terms, more will have accidents.

When the A320 came on the scene in the late 1980’s, the 737 had been flying for almost 20 years; those of you who have flown a 20 year old airframe will understand the significance of that statement. The age of an aircraft has a huge affect on its chances of an accident. Firstly because of the increased chances of mechanical failures; but also because as aircraft are sold on, they are generally passed down the chain of airlines with large resources to those who have few. This can lead to problems with maintenance, crew quality (recruitment & training) and often airport facilities (small airfields without aids) and operating environment (eg night freight).

Year of Build, Series, Generation, Number Built, Written-off
1967-1988, 737-1/200, Originals, 1144 (23%), 98
1984-1997, 737-3/4/500, Classics, 1990 (40%), 23
1997+, 737-6/7/8/900, NG’s, 1800+ (37%), 0

This table shows the write-off rate for each of the three generations of 737. Notice that 80% of the w/o’s are from the oldest generation, even though they only make up 25% of the fleet. Also notice that, so far, none of the NG’s have been written-off.

To compare the 737’s with the A320 family is difficult, and in truth not comparing like with like. Only time will tell how the A320’s cope with 40 years of service.

S&L

Edited to make table more readable

[Founder]

I think we all know that statistics can be used to backup whichever side of the argument that you are on. I am a 737 fan so let me address some of the concerns raised by the original post
The 737 has been flying for 39 years with over 5,000 built, since then 111 have been written off in flying accidents. (This excludes incidents such as hijack, sabotage, fire, collision etc). This is a greater time period and more aircraft built than all of the Airbus models put together, so inevitably, in absolute terms, more will have accidents.
When the A320 came on the scene in the late 1980’s, the 737 had been flying for almost 20 years; those of you who have flown a 20 year old airframe will understand the significance of that statement. The age of an aircraft has a huge affect on its chances of an accident. Firstly because of the increased chances of mechanical failures; but also because as aircraft are sold on, they are generally passed down the chain of airlines with large resources to those who have few. This can lead to problems with maintenance, crew quality (recruitment & training) and often airport facilities (small airfields without aids) and operating environment (eg night freight).
Year of Build Series Generation Number Built Written-off
1967-1988 737-1/200 Originals 1144 (23%) 98
1984-1997 737-3/4/500 Classics 1990 (40%) 23
1997+ 737-6/7/8/900 NG’s 1800+ (37%) 0
This table shows the write-off rate for each of the three generations of 737. Notice that 80% of the w/o’s are from the oldest generation, even though they only make up 25% of the fleet. Also notice that, so far, none of the NG’s have been written-off.
To compare the 737’s with the A320 family is difficult, and in truth not comparing like with like. Only time will tell how the A320’s cope with 40 years of service.
S&L

Good point...