You've probably felt that split-second clench in your chest when the plane hits a pocket of air and drops ten feet. It’s natural. We are hairless primates flying at 35,000 feet in a pressurized metal tube; your lizard brain is going to have some opinions about that.
Every time a headline pops up about a "close call" on a runway or a tragic small-plane incident in the mountains, the same question starts trending: How many plane crashes per year in the US are we actually dealing with?
Is it getting worse? Honestly, it depends on what you're flying. If you are sitting in 14B on a Delta flight to Atlanta, the stats are so heavily in your favor it’s almost boring. But if you’re hopping into a four-seater Cessna with a buddy on a Sunday morning, the math changes completely.
The Raw Numbers: Breaking Down the Yearly Count
Let's look at the hard data from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). In a typical recent year, like 2024, the U.S. saw roughly 1,200 to 1,400 total aviation accidents.
That sounds like a massive number. It’s not. You have to realize that "aviation" is a massive umbrella. It includes everything from a crop duster clipping a power line to a weekend pilot landing "gear up" at a municipal strip.
- 2024 Total: Approximately 1,417 accidents.
- 2024 Fatalities: 258 of those were deadly.
- Early 2025 Trend: As of mid-year 2025, the NTSB had logged roughly 623 accidents.
Basically, we see about three to four aviation accidents a day across the entire country. But here is the kicker: almost none of them involve the big planes you book on Expedia.
The Great Divide: Commercial vs. General Aviation
The biggest mistake people make when looking up how many plane crashes per year in the US is grouping all planes together. It’s like grouping tricycles with semi-trucks because they both have wheels.
✨ Don't miss: Weather in Cabo San Lucas Now: What Most People Get Wrong
Scheduled Commercial Airlines (Part 121)
These are your "Big Skies." United, American, Southwest. The safety record here is, frankly, staggering. For most of the last decade, the fatal accident rate for these carriers has been 0.0 per 100,000 flight hours.
In 2023, there were zero onboard fatalities for major U.S. airlines. 2024 saw a slight uptick in "incidents"—think of the Boeing door plug blowout—but the actual crash count for major scheduled carriers remains incredibly low. You are statistically more likely to be kicked by a donkey than to perish on a Part 121 flight.
General Aviation (Part 91)
This is where the "danger" lives. General aviation (GA) covers private pilots, flight schools, and corporate jets.
GA accounts for 93% of all aviation accidents and fatalities. Why? Because the barriers to entry are lower. A private pilot doesn't have a co-pilot, a team of mechanics, and a dispatcher watching their every move. If a storm rolls in and they make a bad call, there’s no safety net.
Why Do These Crashes Happen?
It’s rarely a "the engine just stopped" scenario. Modern engines are incredibly reliable. Instead, it’s usually the person in the left seat.
- Pilot Error: This is the big one. Roughly 80% of GA accidents are attributed to "the human factor." This includes "VFR into IMC"—which is fancy pilot-speak for "I thought I could fly through those clouds without an instrument rating and I got disoriented."
- Fuel Management: You’d be shocked how many people simply run out of gas. It happens about twice a week in the US.
- The "Flat Light" Problem: In places like Alaska or mountainous regions, pilots lose their sense of where the ground is because the light makes everything look like a white void.
2025 and 2026: What’s Changing?
We are currently in a weird transition period for aviation safety. On one hand, technology is getting better. On the other, the system is stressed.
📖 Related: American Airlines Overweight Bag Fee: How to Avoid Paying $200 for a Few Extra Pounds
Air traffic controller shortages have been a major talking point heading into 2026. While it hasn't led to a spike in crashes, it has led to more "runway incursions"—those heart-stopping moments where two planes get way too close on the tarmac.
We’re also seeing a rise in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). As we move through 2026, those electric "flying taxis" you've heard about are starting early test runs in cities like New York and Chicago. The FAA is being incredibly strict with them because they know one high-profile crash could kill the industry before it starts.
How to Read the News Without Panicking
The media loves a good plane story. A "near miss" makes for a great headline, but the fact that it was a miss means the system actually worked. TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems) and vigilant controllers are there specifically to prevent the "what ifs."
When you see a report about how many plane crashes per year in the US, check the "Part." If it doesn't say "Scheduled Airline," it’s likely a private incident that has zero bearing on your upcoming vacation flight.
Actionable Safety Insights for Travelers
If you’re still feeling a bit shaky about your next flight, here is what you can actually do to feel (and be) safer:
- Fly the "Majors": Stick to Part 121 carriers. They have the most rigorous maintenance schedules and pilot training requirements in the world.
- The Plus-Three/Minus-Eight Rule: Most accidents (though rare) happen during the first three minutes of takeoff or the last eight minutes of landing. Stay sober, keep your shoes on, and know where your nearest exit is during these times.
- Look at the Weather: If you are booking a small charter or a "flight seeing" tour (like over the Grand Canyon or Alaska), don't pressure the pilot to fly if the weather looks "sorta okay." "Get-there-itis" is a leading cause of small plane accidents.
- Trust the Redundancy: Commercial jets are designed to fly, climb, and land even if an engine fails. The systems are doubled, tripled, and sometimes quadrupled.
The number of plane crashes in the US stays remarkably consistent year over year. While the "total" number looks scary, the reality is that the commercial sky has never been safer. We’ve built a system that learns from every single mistake, turning every past tragedy into a future safety checklist.
Next Steps:
Check the NTSB's Aviation Accident Database if you want to see the specific reports for your local area. You can filter by aircraft type to see just how skewed the data is toward small, private planes versus the commercial jets you actually fly on.