Without knowing the specific technical meaning of 'airliners', yes that sounds about right. Maybe 'non-experimental airplanes'?

General aviation is full of repeating disasters. And agricultural aviation is well, about as safe as a bunch of cowboys operating tractors.

Repeating catastrophic design flaws though? I'd think the even the most inhumane manufacturers would face too much liability to allow the second one to happen.

What counts as a catastrophic design flaw?

Piston engines sometimes stop unexpectedly. This happens in general aviation, and sadly it quite often results in a fatal crash.

If you ban piston engines and only allow turbine engines (which are much less prone to unexpectedly stopping), you effectively kill general aviation.

Those repeating disasters are mostly misjudging the weather and miscalculating fuel.