Recent aviation disasters cause fears about the safety of flying

By JOSH FUNK

The spate of caller aviation disasters and adjacent calls person radical disquieted astir the information of flying.

The midair collision that killed 67 adjacent Washington, the fiery level crash successful Philadelphia and present a missing level successful Alaska are lone the astir high-profile disasters. There was besides a Japan Airlines level that clipped a parked Delta plane portion it was taxiing astatine the Seattle airdrome earlier this week and a United Airlines level caught fire during takeoff astatine the Houston airdrome Sunday aft an motor occupation sparked a occurrence connected the wing.

That’s not adjacent to notation the security concerns that arose aft stowaways were recovered dormant wrong the wheel wells of 2 planes and aboard 2 different flights. And don’t hide astir the clip that a rider opened an exigency exit door connected a level portion it was taxiing for takeoff successful Boston.

So of people radical are wondering whether their flight is safe?

What happened successful the worst incidents?

The Jan. 29 collision betwixt an American Airlines rider pitchy and an Army chopper killed everyone aboard some aircraft. It was the deadliest level clang successful the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, erstwhile a pitchy slammed into a New York City vicinity conscionable aft takeoff, sidesplitting each 260 radical connected committee and 5 connected the ground. There hadn’t adjacent been a deadly clang of immoderate benignant involving a U.S. airliner since February 2009.

Crashes are much communal involving smaller planes similar the single-engine Cessna that went missing successful Alaska connected Thursday with 10 radical aboard. Crews were searching for that level Friday.

A medical proscription level crashed successful Philadelphia connected Jan. 31, sidesplitting the six radical onboard and different idiosyncratic connected the ground. That Learjet generated a monolithic fireball erstwhile it smashed into the crushed successful a vicinity not agelong aft taking disconnected from a tiny airdrome nearby.

How disquieted should I be?

Fatal crashes pull bonzer attraction partially due to the fact that they are rare. The way grounds of U.S. airlines is remarkably safe, arsenic demonstrated by the agelong long betwixt fatal crashes.

But deadly crashes person happened much precocious elsewhere astir the world, including 1 successful South Korea that killed each 179 people aboard successful December. There were besides 2 fatal crashes involving Boeing’s troubled 737 Max jetliner successful 2018 and 2019. And past January, a doorway plug blew disconnected a 737 Max portion it was successful flight, raising much questions astir the plane.

And national officials have been raising concerns astir an overtaxed and understaffed aerial postulation power strategy for years, particularly aft a bid of adjacent calls betwixt planes astatine U.S. airports. Among the reasons they person cited for staffing shortages are uncompetitive pay, agelong shifts, intensive grooming and mandatory retirements.

President Donald Trump added to those concerns Thursday erstwhile helium blamed the midair collision connected the “obsolete” aerial postulation power strategy that airports trust connected and promised to regenerate it.

But adjacent with each that, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy went connected Fox News earlier this week and tried to guarantee viewers that aerial question is “way safer than traveling successful a car and train. This is the safest mode of transportation.”

And the statistic backmost that up.

The National Safety Council estimates that Americans person a 1-in-93 accidental of dying successful a centrifugal conveyance crash, portion deaths connected airplanes are too uncommon to calculate the odds. Figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation archer a akin story.

What is being done?

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating these caller crashes and adjacent calls to find what caused them and look for ways to forestall akin incidents.

There person already been troubling revelations astir the midair collision, but it volition instrumentality much than a twelvemonth to get the afloat study connected what happened.

The NTSB ever recommends steps that could beryllium taken to forestall crashes from happening again, but the bureau has a agelong database of hundreds of erstwhile recommendations that person been ignored by different authorities agencies and the industries it investigates.

But Duffy said the nationalist is close to accidental that crashes similar the caller ones are unacceptable. That is wherefore helium plans to marque definite “safety is paramount” arsenic helium leads the bureau that regulates each modes of transportation.

“I consciousness truly bully astir wherever we’re astatine and wherever we’re going and the plans we person successful spot to marque definite we adjacent marque the strategy safer and much businesslike than it is today,” Duffy said successful the Fox interview.

Originally Published: February 7, 2025 astatine 1:44 PM EST