If you were not afraid to fly before, the number of plane crashes since Trump took office could easily change your mind. In January alone, 67 people died when an American Airlines regional jet collided with an Army helicopter not far from the Ronald Reagan Airport located in Washington, D.C. The crash was the deadliest in over two decades. The recent crashes have caused many flyers to cancel their vacation plans and business trips until the skies appear safe again.
Recent Aviation Accidents
On January 31, seven more people died when a medical jet crashed not far from the Roosevelt Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A single-engine plane then crashed in Nome, Alaska, killing 10. In early February, a plane owned by Vince Neil, the lead singer of Motley Crue, veered into a jet, resulting in the death of one passenger.
At the Toronto airport, a dozen flyers suffered injuries when a jet crashed and flipped upside down. Atlanta Delta Flight 876 was forced to make an emergency landing after the cabin was filled with a thick haze.
The National Transportation and Safety Board estimates that “a total of nearly 24 million flight hours in 2007, when 6.84 of every 100,000 flight hours yielded an airplane crash, while 1.19 of every 100,000 yielded a fatal crash. This dropped from an all-time high of 9.08 accidents per 100,000 hours in 1994. For private flights, the numbers are higher, but these flights are more difficult to document due to lax government regulation and non-reporting. Since the 1980s, private plane crashes have declined.”
It adds that “user error and insufficient training still contribute to many more accidents than are needed each year.” Statistics also show that up to 80% of all aviation accidents are attributed to human error, and the most dangerous times when flying are takeoff and landing.
Planes are Still Safer Than Trains
Despite the recent crashes, flying is considered safer than traveling by train. Records show trains see 0.04 deaths per 100 million miles. In contrast, air travel has 0.01 deaths per 100 million miles. Pilot error accounts for 53% of accidents, while mechanical failure accounts for 21%, and weather conditions 11% of accidents.
Even though it feels as if plane crashes are on the rise, there were more crashes between January 2024 and February 2024. There were 150 aviation accidents. So far in 2025, there have been 99 accidents. When it comes to deadly crashes in 2024 through February 21, there were 30 fatal crashes. In 2025, during the same period, there were 14 deadly crashes.
FAA Firings Contribute To Crashes
Many believe that the recent crashes are a direct result of the Trump administration firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees. In a statement, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said that it was “analyzing the effect of the reported federal employee terminations on aviation safety, the national airspace system, and our members.”
The firings came when the FAA was already facing a shortfall in controllers. Concerns have been repeatedly raised by federal officials that the air traffic control system has been understaffed and overworked for years. There are several reasons for the shortages aside from Trump’s firings, and those include long shifts, uncompetitive pay, intensive training, and mandatory retirements.
