Fear of flying is a strange beast. You’re sitting in a metal tube, 30,000 feet up, sipping a lukewarm ginger ale, and every little bump makes your stomach do a backflip. Your brain starts churning. You wonder, when was the last commercial plane crash? Is it actually getting more dangerous?
The short answer depends on what you define as "commercial" and where you are in the world. Honestly, 2025 was a bit of a wake-up call for the industry. While we went years without a major U.S. passenger airline disaster, the streak broke in a way nobody expected.
The Tragic Potomac River Collision of 2025
On January 29, 2025, the unthinkable happened in the heart of Washington, D.C. An American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700, operated by PSA Airlines, was on a visual approach to Reagan National Airport. At the same time, a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter was navigating the same corridor.
They collided at roughly 300 feet over the Potomac River.
It was a mess. 67 people lost their lives instantly. This wasn't just a "fender bender" on the tarmac; it was the first major U.S. commercial passenger flight crash with fatalities since the Colgan Air tragedy in 2009. For 16 years, the U.S. mainline carriers had a nearly perfect safety record. Then, in a matter of seconds, that sense of invincibility vanished.
Investigators from the NTSB spent months picking through the wreckage in the river. Basically, it came down to a "see and avoid" failure in a very crowded airspace. The TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) on the jet didn't give a full resolution advisory because the plane was too low—the system is designed to shut off those "climb, climb" commands near the ground so pilots don't accidentally fly into a building or a hill while trying to dodge another plane.
Recent Commercial Aviation Incidents You Might Have Missed
If we're looking at the most recent events, things get a bit more technical.
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Just a few weeks ago, on December 29, 2025, a Boeing 737-800 was involved in a serious passenger plane crash that sent shockwaves through the South Korean aviation community. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) found that the engine on that specific bird had undergone five mandatory safety upgrades in the four years before the crash.
It’s scary stuff.
Then you’ve got the smaller regional players. In November 2025, a UPS Airlines cargo flight (Flight 2976) went down shortly after taking off from Louisville, Kentucky, headed for Honolulu. 14 people died. While it’s a cargo flight, it’s still a commercial operation using heavy "heavy" aircraft—in this case, an MD-11F.
Global Safety Stats: 2024 vs. 2025
The numbers for 2024 were actually pretty grim compared to the decade prior. According to IATA, there were seven fatal accidents in 2024, resulting in 244 on-board deaths.
- 2024 Haneda Airport Collision: A Japan Airlines A350 hit a Coast Guard Dash 8. The miracle there was that everyone on the A350 got out alive.
- Voepass Flight 2283: In August 2024, a regional ATR 72-500 crashed in Vinhedo, Brazil. 62 people died.
- Saurya Airlines: A CRJ200 crashed in Kathmandu in July 2024, killing 18.
By the time 2025 rolled around, the industry was already on edge. The Potomac crash just pushed that anxiety into the mainstream.
Is Flying Still Safer Than Driving?
Statistically? Yes. Not even close.
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You’ve probably heard the "you're more likely to die driving to the airport" line a thousand times. It’s a cliche because it’s true. The fatality risk in 2024 was about 0.06 per million sectors. That means you’d have to fly every single day for over 15,000 years before you’d statistically be involved in a fatal crash.
But stats don't help when you're looking at photos of wreckage in a river.
The reality is that "commercial aviation" is a broad term. Are you talking about a Delta flight from JFK to LAX? Or a 10-seater Cessna Caravan flying through a blizzard in rural Alaska?
Take Bering Air Flight 445. In February 2025, that small commercial commuter plane vanished over Norton Sound in Alaska. All 10 people died. Flying in the "bush" is a completely different world of risk than flying a Dreamliner across the Atlantic.
Why Do Planes Still Crash in 2026?
We have GPS. We have AI-assisted flight decks. We have redundant engines. So why do they still fall?
Most of the time, it's a "chain of events." It’s rarely just one thing. It's a pilot who is tired, plus a sensor that's icing up, plus a slightly confusing instruction from Air Traffic Control.
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In the 2026 Paipa crash in Colombia—which happened just days ago on January 10—a Piper Navajo carrying popular singer Yeison Jiménez went down right after takeoff. It’s still under investigation, but early reports suggest the plane struggled to gain altitude. When you're dealing with private or small-scale commercial charters, the margin for error is much thinner than on a massive Boeing or Airbus.
Actionable Insights for Nervous Flyers
If you’re looking at these headlines and wondering if you should cancel your spring break trip, take a breath. Here is how you can actually use this information:
Check the Airline Safety Rankings
Every year, groups like AirlineRatings.com release a "Safest Airlines" list. For 2026, Etihad Airways actually took the top spot, followed by the usual suspects like Air New Zealand and Qantas. If you're nervous, stick to the top-tier carriers.
Understand the "Regional" Factor
A lot of the "commercial" crashes you see in the news involve regional turboprops or smaller jets (like the CRJ700 or ATR 72). Mainline "heavy" jets—the ones with two aisles—have a safety record that is almost unbelievably good.
Fly Direct When Possible
Statistically, the most "dangerous" parts of a flight are takeoff and landing. If you eliminate a layover, you eliminate a set of takeoffs and landings. Plus, you get to your destination faster.
Pay Attention to the Briefing
I know, you've heard it a million times. But in the 2024 Haneda crash, the reason 379 people survived a burning plane was because they followed instructions and didn't stop to grab their carry-on bags. In an emergency, seconds are the difference between life and death.
Aviation safety is a moving target. We learn from every mistake. The 2025 Potomac crash led to immediate calls for better "low-altitude" TCAS protocols and tighter drone/helicopter corridors in D.C. Each tragedy, as awful as it is, makes the next flight you take just a little bit safer.
If you are planning a trip, keep an eye on the NTSB's preliminary reports for any specific aircraft models you might be flying on. Knowledge is usually the best cure for flight anxiety. Just don't let the headlines overshadow the fact that thousands of flights landed safely while you were reading this.