Definitions

Accident: International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) defines an accident as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked in which:

• A person is fatally or seriously injured
• The aircraft sustains damage or structural failure
• The aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible

Note: The following are not considered accidents: experimental test flights, sabotage, hijacking, terrorism, or direct military action

There are several ways to classify an accident. These include classification by the level of damage incurred, by the extent of injuries caused, or by the cost of the damage to the aircraft. The following definitions are used in various classification taxonomies:

Damage