...based on takeoff accident statistics for comenrcial airplanes (certified under FAA FAR 25 and EASA CS 25) from the early 1950s through 2003, 1 rejected takeoff (RTO) occurred for about every 3000 takeoffs. Currently, about 18 million takeoffs are completed per year, and 1 RTO accident/incident occurs for every 4.5 million takeoffs. A large percentage of high-spped RTOs resulted in overruns or veer-offs. Takeoff aborts were frequsntly initiated after V1 spped was exceeded. About 1/3 of RTO overruns/veer-offs occurred on wet/contaminated runways. Engine failure was responsible for about 21% of RTOs, while tire failure was responsible for about 22%.
The main conclusion of the study was that about 82% of the 97 studied RTO overruns were actually avoidable. In some cases, owever, pilots correctly aborted takeoff after V1 was exceeded, since the airplane was unsafe or unable to fly.