On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, the United States experienced its deadliest air crash in sixteen years. American Airlines Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ-700 operated by PSA Airlines as American Eagle, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington D.C., collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter just before landing on Runway 33 at Reagan Airport, plunging into the icy Potomac River and killing all on board as well as the three soldiers in the helicopter. However, just two days after the devastating mid-air collision, a medical Learjet 55 jet operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance crashed near Philadelphia, killing seven people onboard, including a child who had just received life-saving care. Over the next few days, a Delta regional plane flipped and overturned onto an icy Toronto runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Then, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 plane had to initiate a go-around procedure after nearly colliding with a Bombardier Challenger 350 private jet while landing at Chicago Midway Airport.
“Is flying still a safe way to travel? Nowadays, flying has been so much more dangerous than ever before. The amount of traffic within the vicinity of DCA and our nation’s capital was certain to foreshadow an accident as massive as the one we just had recently,” freshman Owen Lin said.
According to the Pilot Institute, the biggest contributor that affects flight safety is that of the human factor. If pilots do not follow the regulations strictly, lack the professional capacity to deal with many emergencies, are physically and mentally exhausted or have mental health problems, it is much more likely to precipitate an aviation accident. There are a multitudinous number of accidents caused solely by pilot error. For example, in 2015, the Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps, killing 150 people. The cause of the accident was that the co-pilot had suffered from depression, which resulted in his successful attempt to drive the plane into doom manually. While the accident on the 29th is still under investigation, some preliminary evidence suggests that the two aircraft collided because the tower facility and the helicopter pilot had difficulties communicating and understanding each other.
In addition to pilot error, mechanical failures in the airplane itself can lead to an aviation catastrophe. Many mechanical failures can be detected before takeoff, but unpredictable breakages or malfunctions can occur. As in the case of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 (a McDonnell Douglas MD-83), in 2000, the plane had a jackscrew that had been excessively worn out and had not been replaced. As a result, the plane went out of control and crashed, killing 88 people. In 2024, aboard Alaska Flight 1282, a Boeing 737 MAX 9’s cabin door detached while flying, causing a mandatory emergency landing.
Furthermore, poor and tempestuous weather can affect aviation safety. Snow, thunderstorms, heavy rain, haze, and other bad weather conditions can make it difficult for pilots to fly. There have been two recent aviation accidents, one on February 17, 2025, when a Delta CRJ-900LR plane crashed and flipped upside down at the Toronto International Airport, leaving behind only the fuselage. Without a proper investigation yet, experts speculate that the accident was caused by the icy and slippery runway. On February 6, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX turboprop, operated as Bering Air Flight 445, crashed near Alaska, also speculated to be related to terrible meteorological conditions at the time of and after the accident.
According to USA Facts, air travel continues to display the lowest injury rate at nearly zero .
“Airplanes are still the safest option to travel anywhere around the globe,” freshman Luke Picoult said.
