A string of aviation incidents, including a fatal mid-air collision, a plane crash in Philadelphia, and a missing plane in Alaska, has sparked public worries about flight safety. While the US airline industry has a strong safety record, these recent events have highlighted potential vulnerabilities in the system, prompting investigations and calls for increased safety measures.
A recent wave of aviation disasters and near-miss incidents has fueled concerns about flight safety. The mid-air collision that killed 67 people near Washington, the dramatic plane crash in Philadelphia, and now a missing plane in Alaska are just the most high-profile tragedies.
There was also a Japan Airlines plane that clipped a Delta aircraft that was parked while taxiing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport earlier this week, and a United Airlines plane caught fire during takeoff at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Sunday after an engine problem caused a fire in the wing. Not to mention the security concerns that arose after stowaways were found dead inside the wheel wells of two airplanes and aboard two other flights. And let's not forget the time a passenger opened an emergency exit door on a plane while it was taxiing for takeoff in Boston. So, it's understandable that people are questioning whether their flight is safe. The January 29th collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a military helicopter killed everyone on board both aircraft. It was the deadliest air crash in the United States since November 12, 2001, when a jet crashed into a neighborhood in New York City just after takeoff, killing the 260 people on board and five on the ground. There hadn't been a fatal accident of any kind involving a US airline since February 2009. Accidents are more common with smaller aircraft like the single-engine Cessna that disappeared in Alaska on Thursday with ten people on board. Crews were searching for the plane on Friday. A medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia on January 31, killing the six people on board and another person on the ground. That Learjet created a massive fireball when it slammed into the ground in a residential area shortly after taking off from a nearby airport. Fatal accidents attract extraordinary attention partly because they are rare. The history of US airlines is remarkably safe, as evidenced by the long period between fatal accidents. But fatal accidents have occurred more recently in other parts of the world, including one in South Korea that killed the 179 people on board in December. There were also two fatal accidents involving Boeing's troubled 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019. And last January, a door panel broke off a 737 Max while it was in flight, raising more questions about the aircraft. And federal officials have been expressing concerns about an overburdened and understaffed air traffic control system for years, especially after a series of near-miss situations between aircraft at US airports. Among the reasons they have cited for the staffing shortage are uncompetitive wages, long shifts, intensive training, and mandatory retirement. President Donald Trump amplified these concerns on Thursday when he blamed the mid-air collision on the “obsolete” air traffic control system that US airports rely on and promised to replace it. But even with all that, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy appeared on Fox News earlier this week and tried to reassure viewers that flying is “much safer than driving or taking the train. This is the safest mode of transportation.” And the statistics back him up. The National Safety Council estimates that Americans have a 1 in 93 chance of dying in a car accident, while deaths on airplanes are too rare to calculate the odds. The US Department of Transportation's figures are similar. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are investigating these recent accidents and near-miss incidents to determine what caused them and find ways to prevent similar accidents. There have already been some concerning revelations about the mid-air collision, but it will take more than a year to get the full report on what happened. The NTSB always recommends steps that could be taken to prevent accidents from happening again, but the agency has a long list of hundreds of previous recommendations that have been ignored by other government agencies and the industries it investigates. But Duffy said the public is right to say that accidents like these are unacceptable. That's why he plans to make sure that “safety is paramount” while leading the agency that regulates all modes of transportation.
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