Five fatal business jets accidents claimed 12 people in the first three months versus four accidents and 11 deaths in first-quarter 2024, according to preliminary data gathered by AIN. U.S.-registered business jets fared better, with two fatal accidents claiming two people in the quarter versus three accidents and nine fatalities in the same period last year. But non-U.S.-registered business jets experienced a significant uptick in fatalities: 10 deaths in three accidents in the first quarter compared with two deaths in a single accident in the same timeframe last year.

On Jan. 9, 2025, a privately operated, Brazilian-registered Cessna 525 CitationJet CJ1+ overshot the runway on landing, crossed a road, broke up, and burst into flames, killing the pilot. The four passengers were injured. Less than three weeks later, on January 29, a Venezuelan government-operated S550 Citation S/II crashed shortly after takeoff. All three occupants perished.

Two pilots and four passengers died when, on Jan. 31, 2025, a Mexico-registered Bombardier Learjet 55 air ambulance crashed shortly after takeoff from a U.S. airport on a planned flight home. In addition to the six fatalities on the twinjet, one person on the ground was killed. The airplane was operating under FAR Part 129 as a foreign air carrier.

On Feb. 10, 2025, a parked Gulfstream G200 was struck by a U.S.-registered Learjet 35A that veered off the runway while landing. The Learjet pilot was killed. Landing gear issues were present. The other fatal accident in the first quarter occurred on March 13 on a planned ferry flight. After taking off, a Citation CJ2 made a right turn and climbed to about 950 feet before it began a rapid descent. The sole pilot aboard died in the crash.

Meanwhile, fatalities more than tripled from accidents of nonscheduled U.S.-registered business turboprops in the first quarter versus a year ago. Three fatal accidents claimed 10 people in the most recent quarter versus two accidents and three deaths in the first three months of 2024.

By far, the Jan. 29, 2025, crash of a Uganda-registered Beechcraft 1900D in South Sudan was the worst turbine business airplane accident of the first quarter: All 20 occupants perished when the turboprop twin crashed on takeoff. Another eight died in three more accidents of non-U.S.-registered business turboprops in the first three months of this year. Seven accidents and 26 fatalities occurred in the same period last year..

Although runway excursions (the most common type of airplane mishaps) have decreased in the last three first-quarter periods—from 23 in 2023 to 20 in 2024 to 17 this year—they can be deadly, as evidenced in two of the five fatal bizjet accidents in this first quarter.