Frequent travelers are growing increasingly concerned about a series of back-to-back aviation incidents that have occurred since the start of 2025. In just a few weeks, an American Airlines jet collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near Washington D.C., resulting in the deaths of all 67 passengers. Following that, a medical transport plane crashed in Northeast Philadelphia, a United Airlines flight started smoking shortly before takeoff in Houston, Texas, and a Delta Airlines flight crash-landed in Toronto. The tragedies have been going on for five months now, the most recent being a San Diego plane crash with talent agent Dave Shapiro on board. As a result, many Americans are left wondering whether it’s still safe to fly and why these incidents seem to be happening so frequently in the U.S. lately.
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
There have been hundreds of aviation crashes in the United States for January 1 through May, according to multiple outlets. Not all of them have been fatal, however.
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.
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 … statistically speaking,” he told CNN in January 2025.
“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.
Some people struggle with a fear of flying, otherwise known as Aerophobia. According to Cleveland Clinic, around 25 million American adults live with Aerophobia.
