The research paper examined fatal accidents and fatalities involving civil aviation aircraft in Australian airspace between 1990 and 2005. The purpose of the paper was to provide accurate data to industry and the public by identifying key trends and characteristics. Specifically, the objectives of the paper were to (1) identify trends for fatal accidents and fatalities from 1990 to 2005, (2) examine the number of fatal accidents from 1990 to 2005 by pilot licence type, type of operation, level of proficiency, and aircraft weight, and (3) examine the number of fatalities from 1990 to 2005 by pilot licence type, type of operation, level of proficiency and aircraft weight. The ATSB aviation database was searched to identify all fatal accidents involving civil aviation aircraft operating in Australian airspace from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2005. It was found that the number of reported fatal accidents and fatalities declined significantly between 1990 and 2005, with the highest number of fatal accidents and fatalities in 1990. The number of fatal accidents and fatalities reported in 2005 was below the annual average calculated for the 16-year period. Fatal accidents associated with both professional and non-professional pilots declined significantly between 1990 and 2005. In relation to type of operation, the findings show that both commercial and non-commercial operations experienced a significant decrease in the number of fatal accidents between 1990 and 2005. For commercial operations, 2004 was the lowest for the 16-year period for both fatal accidents and fatalities. An elevated fatality rate for 2005 was primarily because of a fatal accident at Lockhart River in Queensland, which involved 15 fatalities. The fatal accident and fatality rates for commercial and non-commercial operations in Australian airspace have been very low.