Josh Funk
With all recent aviation disasters and close calls, people are worried about flight safety.
The airborne collision that killed a 67 near Washington, DC last month was the worst disaster. However, there were also planes that crashed and turned over when they landed in Toronto, a violent plane crash in Philadelphia, a plane crash in Alaska, a plane crash that killed 10 people, and two small planes that collided in Arizona. All of these came before a scary moment in Chicago. Southwest Airlines’ plane had to abort its landing to avoid collision with another plane across the runway. The plane landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport had to go around operations Tuesday to avoid getting too close to another plane departing from the same runway on Tuesday.
This goes without saying that when a Japanese airline plane cut out a parked delta plane while taxiing at Seattle Airport, and security concerns that emerged after a reservoir died in the wheels of two planes were discovered to be on the other two flights. Additionally, a United Airlines plane broke out during takeoff at Houston Airport, opening the plane’s emergency exit door while passengers were taxiing to take off in Boston.
Of course, do people wonder if their flight is safe?
What happened in the worst case scenario?
A January 29 collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter killed everyone on both planes. It was the most fatal plane crash in the United States since November 12, 2001. The jet crashed into a New York City neighbourhood shortly after takeoff, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground. Since then, since February 2009, there have been no fatal crashes of the kind involved in US passenger aircraft.
Earlier this month, 21 people were injured on February 17th, causing Delta flights to overturn and landed on the roof of Toronto’s Pearson Airport. Everyone survived that crash.
Crashings involving smaller planes are more common, such as the single-engine Cessna that crashed in Alaska on February 6th, and two smaller planes that crashed in Arizona on February 19th.
On January 31st, a medical transport crashed in Philadelphia, killing six people on board and another person on the ground. The Learjet produced a giant fireball when it hit the ground in the neighborhood shortly after taking off from a small nearby airport.
How worried should I be?
Fatal crashes are rare and therefore attract extraordinary attention. The US Airlines’ track record is extremely safe, as demonstrated by its long stretches during a fatal crash.
However, fatal clashes have occurred elsewhere around the world, including one of South Korea, which killed all 179 people in December. There were also two fatal crashes, including the 737’s biggest jet liner that had Boeing issues in 2018 and 2019. Last January, a door plug was blown off from the 737 Max while flying, and there were more questions about the plane.
Federal officials have raised concerns over the years about overtensive and understaffed air traffic control systems, particularly after a series of close calls between planes at US airports. Some of the reasons they cited due to a lack of staff include uncompetitive pay, long shifts, intensive training and mandatory retirement.
President Donald Trump added these concerns when he condemned airborne collisions through Washington, DC with the “outdated” air traffic control system that airports rely on.
Still, authorities tried to reassure travelers that flight was the safest form of transportation. Statistics back it up.
The National Safety Council estimates that while an American has one chance in ’93 to die in a car accident, deaths on a plane are rare for calculating odds. The US Department of Transport figures tell a similar story.
What is going on?
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration is investigating these recent crashes and intimate calls to find ways to cause them and prevent them from recurring.
There have already been some nasty revelation about airborne collisions, but it will take more than a year to get a full report on what happened.
The NTSB always recommends steps that may be taken to prevent crashes from happening again, but agents have a long list of hundreds of previous recommendations ignored by other government agencies and the industries they are investigating.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy says it’s right to say crash drops are unacceptable, like the ones that have been recent. So he plans to “safety is paramount” to lead agencies that regulate all modes of transport.
“I feel really good about where we are, where we are going and what we are planning to make our systems safer and more efficient than today,” Duffy said in an interview with Fox News.
Original issue: February 26, 2025, 12:44pm EST
