10 001 eVENT-S™ Milestone
The eVENT-S Round-up of Aircraft Occurrences in September, October and November 2025
On December 1st, eVENT-S™, L&A Risk Management Systems’ Aircraft Accident and Incident database recorded its milestone 10,001st aircraft occurrence in the system. How does the November 2025 data compare to September and October 2025? Let’s take a closer look…
14- 11 Ground contact/collisions:
In November 2025, the world experienced a decrease in Ground contact/collision events. However, the aircraft events had more severe consequences, resulting in significant loss of life. Notably, a McDonnell Douglas (MD-11F) tragically crashed shortly after taking off from Louisville on November 4th due to the separation of the left engine and pylon. The accident destroyed the aircraft and tragically resulted in several fatalities and injuries.
This incident illustrates how aircraft incident monitoring affects regulatory action. The FAA issued Emergency Airworthiness Directives (ADs) prohibiting further flights of MD-11 and MD-11F aircraft until inspections were performed. These ADs were later expanded to include the similar DC-10 series aircraft. The NTSB noted the similarities between this crash and the fatal 1979 DC-10 accident, which also involved engine and pylon separation during takeoff.
In November, there were 2 incidents involving Installation collisions (such as hitting jet bridges and signposts) and 7 incidents involving ground equipment collisions (involving catering trucks, loaders, and fuel trucks). Although these numbers are slightly lower than those in October, they illustrate a continued vulnerability in apron safety, particularly concerning ground service equipment (GSE) operations around stationary aircraft.
19 – 29 Ground Operations:
Incidents related to runway excursions, tyre failures, and landing gear have shown a concerning and continuous upward trend. From 10 incidents in September, this increased to 19 in October and surged to 29 incidents in November.
This category was dominated by 8 runway excursions and 8 tyre failures. There were also 4 runway incursions/wrong surface landings, 3 landing gear failures, and 2 tail strikes.
Ground operations saw the most significant increase in risk in November. The number of tyre failures doubled from 3 in October to 8 in November. Additionally, the ongoing occurrence of runway excursions suggests that these issues may be linked to environmental factors, such as snow and wet runways in the northern hemisphere, as well as maintenance-related wear.
13 – 19 Engine/Powerplant Issues:
The upward trajectory continued for the third consecutive month. September recorded 8 incidents, October saw a rise to 13, and November recorded 19 engine-related incidents.
November’s significant incidents involving aircraft engines include the previously noted, catastrophic engine separation event on an MD-11, along with 12 additional engine failures, 4 instances of engine problems or surges, and 2 engine fires.
In November, an unusually high number of powerplant events were recorded for the quarter. The severity of these incidents varied, ranging from precautionary diversions to serious failures such as catastrophic component detachments. This highlights November as a month with critical high-severity risks in this category.
14 – 11 Cockpit/system/pressure issues:
November showed a slight decrease from October’s peak of 14, recording 11 incidents relating to cabin and pressure issues.
In contrast to October, which was characterised by “cracked windshields” resulting in six events, November was marked by incidents involving Smoke, Fumes, and Fire, with a total of seven events. A notable sub-trend emerged concerning Lithium Battery Thermal Runaways, which led to three separate incidents that resulted in smoke and fire.
Although the overall number of events decreased slightly, the nature of the risks shifted from structural issues (such as windshields) to environmental and cargo hazards (specifically related to lithium batteries and fumes), presenting crew response with different challenges.
8 – 7 – Bird Strikes:
After the 80% increase in bird strikes observed in October, the frequency of incidents has stabilised, with seven cases reported in November. Although the rapid rise has stopped, the current rate remains consistent with the elevated levels seen in October, resulting in significant operational disruptions and diversions for airlines.
Synthesis and Strategy:
Aircraft Occurrence data is invaluable to the aviation industry as it forms the foundation of Continuous Improvement. Benchmarking the eVENT-S™ November data against the previous two months reveals a distinct escalation in operational risk. Ground operation incidents have nearly tripled since September (10 to 29), and engine/powerplant incidents have more than doubled (8 to 19). While ground collisions and cockpit issues saw slight numerical decreases from October, they remain significantly higher than September baselines, with the occurrence of Lithium fires more prevalent in November.
Food for thought...
Are our current pre-flight screenings and cabin containment procedures evolving fast enough to match this growing hazard?