Bend has the Most Plane Incidents in Central Oregon

Bend Municipal Airport doesn't have commercial air service but what it does have is the highest number of plane accidents over the last twenty years in and about Central Oregon. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration has gathered information from their federal database that suggests that 18 serious aircraft accidents occurred in and near Bend from 2000 to 2008.

It is further documented that the largest majority of these crashes involved small, single-engine planes, many were built from home. There were nothing but minor injuries and fortunately there were no fatalities, unlike in the 1990's when there were six fatalities in or near that same area. It is further indicated that the crashes almost all occurred during take off or landing from the Bend Airport. Four planes involved in accidents in Bend were amateur-built.

The Bend Municipal Airport, which many consider to be somewhat unique, is located east of the city. The increase in Central Oregon's population has also resulted in an increase in air traffic in that area over the past ten years or so, coupled with two airplane manufacturers there.

Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman in California claims that there are usually a larger number of accidents near airports, which only stands to reason, especially near an airport like Bend which is merely a general aviation facility. Gregor adds that these accidents are typically not located at airports but rather near them. This is primarily because aviation airplanes are small piston powered planes and they are more likely to experience problems than a major carrier.

Some argue that there is a big difference between incident and accident and suggest that many of the occurrences in Bend have been nothing more than incidents. Incidents are part of a lesser category which could have led to serious crashes, or crashes with only minor damage. It is suggested that there may be some bias on behalf of the statistics pertaining to Bend. This would mean that many of the accidents that were reported out of Bend may have been nothing more than mere incidents if they had been reported correctly.

The determination of what is considered an accident versus an incident is decided by the NTSB, who claims that the criterion for both is the same regardless of the location or the type of airport that is involved.