Image Credit: Getty Images
Frequent travelers are concerned about the back-t0-back aviation incidents that occurred in January 2025. Within the first few weeks of the new year, an American Airlines jet collided with a Black Haw helicopter near Washington D.C., a medical transport plane crashed in Northeast Philadelphia and a United Airlines flight started smoking shortly before takeoff in Houston, Texas. Naturally, Americans are wondering if it’s even safe to fly anymore, let alone why there seems to be so many plane crashes and incidents in the U.S.
Below, read on about the reported plane collisions, crashes and other incidents in the U.S. in 2025.
Plane Crashes in the USA So Far in 2025
According to the Federal Aviation Administration‘s (FAA) “Statements on Accidents and Incidents,” there have been around 15 plane crashes and/or minor collisions so far in America in 2025 involving either commercial jets or smaller planes. Apart from crashes and collisions, there have been more minor incidents involving commercial and non-commercial aircrafts. The administration gathered all minor and larger scale incidents so far this year on its website.
Why Are There So Many Plane Crashes Lately?
There were several aviation incidents in one month, and they resulted from various issues. The midair collision between the American Airlines jet and the Black Hawk is still under investigation, as is the Philadelphia medical jet crash. Other aviation incidents that happened with non-commercial planes were due to technical failures, such as a small plane crash in Fullerton, California.
BREAKING VIDEO
Philly man is recording as plane crashed and explodes in Northeast Philadelphia pic.twitter.com/LqPqbD1nf7
— PhillyCrimeUpdate (@PhillyCrimeUpd) February 1, 2025
Is it Safe to Fly Now?
Experts have pointed to the statistics that prove it’s still safe to fly in the U.S. According to aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse, passengers are “safer in your flight than you were driving in your car to the airport … statically speaking,” he told CNN.
“Air travel remains the safest mode of transportation,” Brickhouse insisted. “And in safety, we identify trends … something that happens over and over again. And in the safety world, if you keep having near-misses, eventually you’re going to have a midair (collision).”
Still, Brickhouse noted that he thinks “it’s important for the flying public to be vocal and demand that the government and the different entities do everything possible to make air travel as safe as possible.”
In 2024, Bloomberg reported that it was the deadliest year for the aviation industry since 2018; last year, there were about 300 fatalities around the world.
