Throughout the beginning of 2025, Americans have become increasingly worried about air travel and plane crashes. The D.C. collision between an American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army helicopter, killing all 67 people on both aircrafts, was the deadliest U.S. plane crash in the last two decades. Since this collision, various crashes have further worried Americans, including the Alaska plane crash that killed 10 people and the medical jet crash in Philadelphia that killed 7 people. As of April 8th, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have reported 153 plane crashes in 2025, with 23 of them being fatal. With this seemingly sudden increase in aviation crashes, many Americans have become terrified of planes and refuse to use air travel. But has there actually been an increase in plane crashes?
In reality, the numbers seen in 2025 are less than what was recorded in 2024. In 2024, the NTSB recorded 1,458 aviation crashes, with 275 of them being fatal. Within the first three months of 2024, 286 crashes had already been reported, while in the same period this year almost half that amount was reported with 153 crashes. So far, 2025 has marked one of the safest years in aviation history.
Despite these low numbers in comparison with previous years, it seems as though everyday there is a new headline of another plane crash. So if 2024 had so many more aviation crashes, how has there been so little coverage compared to this year? Almost all aviation crashes involve private jets and small planes. It is rare for a commercial plane to be involved in a deadly crash, so when a commercial flight gets involved in a major crash, the news becomes much more publicized. Crashes involving commercial planes also tend to have many more victims, making the event even more devastating and more likely to be placed in the headlines.
While the media portrays an extremely high number of plane crashes this year, 2025 has started out to be one of the safest years in aviation history. This record-breaking low number of aviation crashes should inspire Maryvale families to get on a plane and fly to a relaxing spring vacation.
Sources Used:
https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/data/Pages/monthly-dashboard.aspx
https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2025/02/22/why-are-so-many-planes-crashing-are-there-more-plane-crashes-in-2025/79443557007/
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/19/business/airplane-crashes-statistics/index.html
https://www.fox4news.com/news/alaska-plane-crash-all-10-victims-recovered
https://www.fox4news.com/news/philly-plane-crash-victim-killed-ground-identified-police
https://apnews.com/article/dc-crash-investigation-american-airlines-helicopter-ntsb-acc8bf751427eb6824d9d1fad30895b8
