Runway Excursions: Overruns and Veer-offs
6,809 occurrences · 175 fatal · 1,167 fatalities · 1950–2026
What it is
A runway excursion occurs when an aircraft departs the side or the end of the runway during takeoff or landing — veering off to one side, or overrunning the far end. It is one of the most common accident types in aviation because it can result from many different chains of events, but it rarely happens without warning: it is almost always the visible end point of an approach or takeoff that was already going wrong.
Why it happens
Landing excursions are frequently linked to an unstable approach — too fast, too high, or not aligned with the runway centerline — combined with a wet, contaminated, or short runway that leaves little margin for error. Takeoff excursions are more often tied to control problems such as a tire failure, crosswind handling, or an aborted takeoff started too late to stop safely within the remaining runway.
How the industry defends against it
Stabilized-approach criteria give crews an explicit go-around trigger: if the aircraft is not on speed, on profile, and configured by a defined point on approach, the standard procedure is to abandon the approach rather than continue. Runway condition reporting, autobrake and anti-skid systems, and engineered materials arresting systems (EMAS) installed at the end of some runways reduce both the likelihood and the severity of an overrun once one begins.
What this means for passengers
Airlines train hard on the discipline of the stabilized approach specifically to prevent this outcome, and a mandatory go-around when an approach is not stabilized is standard procedure rather than a judgment call left to the crew in the moment. Runway excursions in this database span both commercial and general aviation, since runway and approach conditions affect aircraft of every size.
Aircraft families
- Boeing 73763
- Boeing 74718
- Boeing 72717
- Airbus A32014
- McDonnell Douglas DC-912
- Boeing 7076
- Airbus A3306
- Boeing 7775
- Lockheed C-130 Hercules4
- ATR 42/723
Countries
- United States5,037
- United Kingdom213
- Brazil130
- Canada92
- France83
- Mexico31
- Switzerland29
- Spain27
- Germany23
- Argentina21
Notable investigated accidents
- 2010-05-22 — Air India Charters (158 fatalities)
- 1977-11-19 — Air Portugal - Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (TAP) (131 fatalities)
- 2000-10-31 — Singapore Airlines (83 fatalities)
- 2021-07-04 — Philippine Air Force - Hukbong Himpapawid NG Pilipinas (52 fatalities)
- 1985-01-18 — CAAC - Civil Aviation Administration of China (38 fatalities)
- 1976-04-27 — American Airlines,inc. (37 fatalities)
- 1991-03-23 — Aeroflot - Russian International Airlines (34 fatalities)
- 2003-11-29 — Congolese Air Force - Force Aérienne de la République Démocratique du Congo (33 fatalities)
- 2008-06-10 — Sudan Airways (30 fatalities)
- 1998-02-12 — Sudanese Air Force - Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya As-Sudaniya (27 fatalities)
- 1982-03-20 — Garuda Indonesian Airways (27 fatalities)
- 2026-02-27 — Bolivian Air Force - Fuerza Aérea Boliviana (24 fatalities)
Related: runway incursions at US airports — an incursion (unauthorized presence on a runway) is a different event from an excursion (leaving the runway surface).
Counts are derived from official investigation records; one accident may involve several causes, and older or foreign records can be incomplete. This page explains patterns — it is not a safety ranking.