According to NTSB data, there have been 115 aviation accidents and incidents so far this year—that includes commercial and private planes and other aircraft such as helicopters—around the world. During the same period in 2024, the NTSB recorded 187 aviation accidents and incidents globally. But even though we’ve had fewer accidents compared to last year, several of the occurrences in 2025 have been severe and traumatic, leaving a lasting impression on travelers.
“We’ve had four or so unnerving events recently, all of which were highly publicized,” says Barnett. “If you toss a fair coin repeatedly, you’ll generally get alternation between heads and tails. But every now and then, you’re bound to get six heads in a row or seven tails in a row. When events are rare, as plane crashes with high death tolls now are, it’s [statistically] normal to have long periods without any events interspersed with short spasms with several events. In no meaningful sense are the events really happening more frequently.”
And it’s important to remember, the aviation industry has had a really impressive safety stretch over the last couple of years. “In 2023, the aviation industry had a record year in terms of safety, with several parameters showing best-ever results,” Coimbra Mendonça says. “There were the smallest number of fatal accidents ever recorded, despite a 17% increase in aircraft movements.”
Even factoring all of the recent events, Barnett says, the risk of passenger fatalities worldwide has continued to drop since he concluded his research (at the end of 2022) for the paper he published in August, which determined that commercial air travel has become twice as safe every decade since the 1960s. “Worldwide risk since December 31, 2022, has been 1 in 24.8 million, as compared to 1 in 13.7 million in the August paper.”
Of course, even with all of these reassurances, there are always areas of aviation safety that the officials could improve upon. Workforce shortages across the industry, from air traffic controllers to airline pilots, is one concerning factor that the industry is working to rectify. Other issues include aging airport infrastructure and the need to tighten oversight on aircraft manufacturers like Boeing, which has seen a spat of recent crashes and incidents with its 737 Max planes. These are all areas that experts across the industry are actively working on, through creating education pipelines to bring new hires into the industry, securing new funding to upgrade airport systems, and intensifying government oversight on aircraft production and maintenance.
“While these challenges exist, it’s important to remember that aviation safety is built on multiple layers of protection, including regulatory oversight, pilot training, and technological advancements,” Coimbra Mendonça explains. Indeed, there are constant, incremental safety advancements that travelers might not be aware of. These include technologies like collision avoidance devices, ground proximity warning systems, and runway safety technology, as well as safer aircraft materials, improved pilot training, and stricter regulation and oversight standards, per all three experts interviewed. Improvements and technologies like these “have all but eliminated the sources of many crashes,” Barnett says.
Even with all of these facts that underscore global air travel’s impressive safety record, it’s still ok to feel a little shaken right now. “Flying is one of the safest modes of transportation, but it’s natural for passengers to feel uneasy during their travels,” says Chad Kendall, a former commercial airline pilot who is now an associate professor and Federal Aviation Administration chief instructor at MSU Denver. “Passengers should take this opportunity to understand the importance of listening to crew member safety briefings, identifying the locations of emergency exits, and dressing appropriately for their travels [in case of an emergency evacuation].”
Overall, feeling distressed about the recent accidents isn’t something that should prevent travelers from taking their next trip. “I have confidence in the professional pilots and cabin crew members who operate thousands of flights each day and are dedicated to ensuring the safety of their passengers,” Kendall says. “As investigations into these recent accidents proceed, we will learn from them and implement changes within the aviation industry to enhance safety further.”
Simply put, there’s no reason to avoid air travel, even if it feels a little scary to step inside a plane for the first time after the recent spate of tragedies. According to Barnett: “Statistically, it makes about as much sense to fear death in a US plane crash as to avoid the supermarket for fear that the ceiling will collapse.”
