If it feels like there are suddenly way more plane crashes and incidents, here’s the truth

The crash landing of Delta Air Lines flight 4819 in Toronto is some of the scariest video I’ve ever seen. While thankfully there were no fatalities, videos like that are the stuff that nightmares are made of.

The crash landing of Delta Air Lines flight 4819 in Toronto is some of the scariest video I’ve ever seen. While thankfully there were no fatalities, videos like that are the stuff that nightmares are made of. Monday’s crash landing doesn’t feel like an isolated incident, especially after last month’s collision of an American Airlines plane and a US Army helicopter that left 67 dead. It feels like the skies are becoming more dangerous. But sometimes feelings can be deceiving. A look at the statistics suggests that the skies are about as friendly as they’ve ever been. Take a look at January’s preliminary data from the National Transportation Safety Board. It appears that last month there was a record low number of airplane accidents nationwide, when combining private and commercial airline flights. Most of the 62 total airplane accidents were on private flights, and that total number was 18 less than the 80 recorded in January 2024. In fact, if the preliminary numbers hold, January 2025 will surpass the previous record for the lowest number total accidents, with eight fewer than the prior record low of 70 from January 2012.