 (1).png)
4 days ago
6
Son Of American Airlines Crash Victims Breaks Down In Emotional Tribute
Considering how many millions of people travel by commercial airliner every day without incident, crashes involving such planes are the definition of rare: Seldom occurring or uncommon.
But it only takes one for it to feel as if the sky is falling.
Because while it's generally known that, statistically speaking, flying is a safer mode of travel than driving, the thought of anything going wrong aboard a plane is exponentially scarier.
And on Jan. 29, the worst happened: American Airlines Flight 5342—carrying 60 passengers and four crew members from Wichita, Ks., to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.—was approaching the runway when it collided midair with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, killing everyone aboard both aircrafts.
It was the first commercial airline crash on U.S. soil since Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed into a house near Buffalo, N.Y., in 2009, killing all 49 people aboard and one person on the ground.
But, long gap between crashes aside, it was hard to forget that the disaster occurred a year after a panel blew off a Boeing jet midair during an Alaska Airlines flight. Since there were no casualties, the incident became fodder for a Saturday Night Live sketch ("That's why our new slogan is, 'Alaska Airlines: You didn't die and you got a cool story'"), but we tend to try to laugh at what scares the s--t out of us.
Nor were fears assuaged when a Learjet 55 air ambulance crashed in Philadelphia two days after the American Airlines tragedy, killing all six people onboard and one person on the ground. Or when a Delta jet coming from Minneapolis crash-landed and flipped over upon arrival in Toronto on Feb. 17. (All 76 passengers and four crew members survived.)
Kevin Carter/Getty Images
Still, U.S. government officials and aviation experts have been quick to assure the public that flying is safe, especially on commercial airlines.
"We’re going to lose 44,000 people on the roads this year," aviation expert John Cox told NBC News March 1. "We will not have anywhere close to that, that will...experience a problem with an airplane. The facts are clear, the most dangerous part of any flight for a passenger is the drive to and from the airport."
And while 2025 did begin with a devastating loss of life, the average number of fatal aviation incidents that tend to occur during January and February in a given year in the U.S. were down.
According to numbers from the National Transportation Safety Board, January and February typically have about 20 fatal aviation accidents per month (that includes all types of civil—aka non-military—aircraft, including cargo planes and private jets). But there were only 10 fatal aviation accidents this past January, and in February there were six.
“Commercial aviation is a profoundly safe way to move large numbers of people," safety consultant and former NTSB managing director Peter Goelz told The Guardian March 1, "and it gets safer every year."
And tragedies tend to result in new reforms. For instance, families affected by the 2009 Buffalo crash helped secure the passage of a federal aviation safety bill that required, among other things, the creation of a pilot performance database and a requirement that pilots have 10 hours of rest before flying.
"We call each other the family we never wanted," Ron Aughtmon, who lost an uncle in the Buffalo crash, told CBS News last month of the relatives who joined forces to effect change. "Not many people know what flight 3407 is, and our job is to make sure that we keep our loved ones and the fight for airline safety at the forefront."
Al Drago/Getty Images
“One good thing that the aviation community does do is it really does learn from its past experiences and past accidents,” aviation attorney Jim Brauchle told USA Today in early February. "The [Federal Aviation Administration] has implemented or tried to implement a lot of programs where, if you report safety issues, there’s no repercussions for things like that."
Moreover, he continued, "Everything is pretty highly regulated. With aircraft we have so many redundant systems. If you have a failure of something there’s usually a backup. Technology today has gotten so much better."
Still, so many headlines about flying in 2025 have been of the alarming variety, so there's been a spotlight on all types of incidents. Here's a look at the year so far:
Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Jan. 29: American Airlines Flight 5342 Collides With Army Black Hawk Helicopter
An American Airlines-owned American Eagle jet was approaching the runway at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., just before 9 p.m. ET when it collided with an Army Black Hawk Helicopter, killing everyone aboard both aircraft.
The jet was carrying four crew members and 60 passengers, including a number of athletes returning from a national figure skating camp in Wichita, Kan.
President Donald Trump called it a "dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital."
The helicopter with three military personnel aboard was last tracked by air traffic control to be traveling at 300 feet, though the customary ceiling under FAA rules near that airport is 200 feet, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The jet's last logged altitude, per the aircraft tracking site FlightAware, was 375 feet.
The crash remains under investigation.
"We look at the human, the machine and the environment," NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters Jan. 30. "We will look at all the humans that were involved in this accident. We will look at the aircraft. We will look at the helicopter. We will look at the environment in which they were operating in. That is standard."
It was the first deadly commercial airline crash on U.S. soil since Colgan Flight 3407 crashed into a Buffalo, N.Y.-area house in 2009,
killing all 49 aboard and one person on the ground.
Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images
Jan. 31: Medical Transport Jet Crashes in Philadelphia
A Learjet 55 operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance crashed on a street in northeast Philadelphia just after 6 p.m. ET.
All six people aboard the jet—a child who, according to Jet Rescue, had just completed treatment for a life-threatening condition, her mother, a doctor, a paramedic and two pilots—were killed, as was a 37-year-old man who was driving at the time.
The plane had been in the air for less than a minute after taking off at 6:06 p.m. when the crash occurred, according to FlightAware. It was due to stop in Branson, Mo., and then return the patient and her mom home to Mexico.
"She fought quite a lot to survive," Jet Rescue spokesperson Shai Gold said, "and unfortunately, this tragedy on the way home."
The crash remains under investigation, per NTSB. A preliminary report released by the agency March 6, per NBC Philadelphia, states that the cockpit voice recorder, or "black box," didn't capture any audio from the flight and likely hadn't worked for several years.
Hasan Akbas/Anadolu via Getty Images
Feb. 6: Small Plane Crash in Alaska Kills 10
Nine passengers were headed from Unalakleet, Ala., to Nome, about 140 miles away, when their Bering Air Cessna Caravan went down about 40 minutes into the flight.
Three bodies were discovered Feb. 7 amid wreckage found approximately 34 miles southeast of Nome, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, which noted at the time that they believed the remaining seven, including the pilot, were "inside the aircraft, which was inaccessible due to the condition of the plane."
Calling Alaska "a big small town," Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in a statement, "When tragedy strikes, we're never far removed from the Alaskans directly impacted. But that also means we come together as a community to grieve and heal."
The NTSB said it would be investigating the crash.
Aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Feb. 10: Vince Neil's Learjet Involved in Fatal Collision
One person was killed when a Learjet 35A owned by Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil collided with a parked plane (later identified as a Gulfstream G-200) when it veered from the runway while trying to land at Arizona's Scottsdale Airport at 2:39 p.m. local time, according to a statement from Nashville-based attorney Worrick Robinson IV.
Neil was not onboard at the time.
His lawyer called it "a rapidly evolving situation" under "ongoing investigation," adding, "Mr. Neil's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved, and he is grateful for the critical aid of all first responders assisting today."
There were four aboard the Learjet and the FAA later confirmed the pilot had died, while the co-pilot and one passenger were seriously injured.
Per WMTV 15 News, a preliminary report released March 3 by the NTSB stated that surveillance and cell phone video footage of the incident showed the jet's rear left landing gear in an “askew” position as it approached the runway in Scottsdale.
The report also noted that the same flight crew had reported an issue landing in McAlester, Okla., on June 20, 2024.
The pilot hired a mechanic who performed maintenance, the report detailed, and additional maintenance was conducted on the plane in December. A mechanic who serviced the landing gear noted that “nothing appeared unusual,” the report stated, but the left landing gear “took an excessive amount of grease.”
Katherine KY Cheng/Getty Images
Feb. 17: Delta Jet Crash Lands in Toronto and Flips Over
Delta Flight 4819, originating from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, crash-landed upside down at Toronto Pearson International Airport and burst into flames with 80 people aboard.
Everyone survived, and 21 people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Toronto Pearson president and CEO Deborah Flint.
"All of a sudden, I just remember being fully sideways," passenger Pete Koukov said on TODAY Feb. 18. "I was looking down and just seeing like sparks and flames and whatever was grinding against the ground. It happened pretty dang quick and we were just upside down, hanging from our seat belts.”
Ultimately, he added, “Everyone got off in a pretty orderly fashion. It didn’t seem too insane once the plane had stopped and everyone realized, for the most part, they were OK because no one was seriously injured."
Flint said the incident had occurred in clear conditions and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada was investigating.
aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Feb. 19: Private Planes Collide at Arizona Airport, Killing 2
A Lancair 360 MK II and a Cessna 172S, both small single-engine planes, collided midair around 8:30 a.m. MT at Marana Regional Airport, near Tucson, Ariz.
The Cessna "landed uneventfully," while the Lancair "impacted terrain near runway 3 and a post-impact fire ensued," killing at least two people, the NTSB said in a statement.
According to the FAA, two people were aboard each plane and a man and a woman on the Lancair were later identified as the deceased.
"On behalf of the Town of Marana and the Marana Regional Airport, our hearts go out to all the individuals and families impacted by this event," Marana Regional Airport Superintendent Galen Beem said in a statement, per AZFamily. "This is an unprecedented event, and we are grateful for the swift response from the Marana Police Department and Northwest Fire District."
Gary Hershorn / Contributor
March 1: FedEx Plane Engine Catches Fire After Colliding With Bird
FedEx Flight 3609, headed from Newark to Indianapolis, struck a bird shortly after takeoff and had to make an emergency landing.
While footage of the incident showing the Boeing 767 shooting flames was dramatic, the plane landed safely at Newark Liberty International Airport at 8:07 a.m. ET and the three people aboard the cargo flight were uninjured.
"Our B767 crew declared an emergency and returned safely to Newark after dealing with the resulting engine damage, including an engine fire," FedEx said in a statement to NBC News, noting they were thankful for the "quick actions" of the crew and first responders.
Aviation expert John Cox told NBC News that aircrafts such as the Boeing 767 are certified to fly on one engine in case the other fails.
"Now, it’s just like any other mechanical failure of an engine, you’re down to a single engine operation," Cox said. "There are procedures for that, and pilots train for it, and it results in a safe landing."
English (US) ·