You’re sitting in 14B, white-knuckling the armrests because the plane just hit a tiny bit of turbulence, and suddenly that one news notification pops up on your phone. Another "close call" on a runway in Austin. Or a door plug blowing out over Portland. It makes you wonder why so many plane crashes—or at least the terrifying threat of them—seem to be happening constantly lately.
It’s a weird paradox.
If you look at the raw data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), 2023 was actually the safest year on record for flying. There were zero jet hull losses. Not one. But tell that to someone watching a viral video of an engine shooting flames over Ohio. We are living in an era where the hardware is nearly perfect, but the "system" feels like it’s fraying at the edges.
The reality is that we aren't seeing a massive spike in planes falling from the sky. We are seeing a breakdown in the boring, behind-the-scenes stuff that keeps them up there. It’s a mix of exhausted air traffic controllers, manufacturing shortcuts, and the fact that every single person on a flight now has a 4K camera in their pocket to document every bump.
The Boeing Problem and the Ghost of Quality Control
We have to talk about the elephant in the hangar. For decades, Boeing was the gold standard of engineering. Then came the 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019—Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.
Those weren't just "accidents." They were systemic failures.
Investigations by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure revealed a culture where speed outpaced safety. They implemented a software system called MCAS to compensate for larger engines, then basically didn't tell pilots it existed. 346 people died because of a line of code and a lack of transparency.
Fast forward to 2024. An Alaska Airlines flight loses a door plug at 16,000 feet. Why? Because four key bolts were missing. Just... gone. When people ask why so many plane crashes or mishaps involve the same names, it’s usually because manufacturing moved from an engineering-first mindset to a shareholder-first mindset.
When you outsource the fuselage to a third party (like Spirit AeroSystems) and then pressure them to meet impossible deadlines, things get missed. Humans get tired. Wrench turns get skipped. It’s not a mystery; it’s math.
The "Close Call" Epidemic on Runways
While mid-air disasters are what we fear, the runway is where the real danger lives right now. In early 2023, a FedEx cargo plane and a Southwest 737 nearly collided in Austin. They were within 100 feet of each other. 100 feet.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is screaming about this.
The issue isn't usually the planes. It’s the people on the ground. We have a massive shortage of air traffic controllers (ATCs). According to the FAA, we are thousands of controllers short of where we need to be. The ones we do have are working mandatory 6-day weeks. They are pulling 10-hour shifts.
Imagine being responsible for 15 aluminum tubes carrying thousands of lives while you're on your tenth hour of high-intensity work for the sixth day in a row. You're going to make a mistake. You're going to clear a plane for takeoff while another is still on the roll. This "human factor" is the most fragile link in the chain right now.
Why the Internet Makes It Feel Like the Sky Is Falling
Social media has fundamentally changed our perception of aviation safety.
In 1990, if a plane had a minor hydraulic leak and diverted to Denver, it stayed in the local news. Today? A passenger films the fluid spraying from the wing, uploads it to TikTok with a dramatic soundtrack, and it has 5 million views before the plane even lands.
This creates an "availability heuristic." Our brains think something is happening more frequently because we can recall specific, vivid examples of it easily.
We see "Why so many plane crashes" trending on X (formerly Twitter) and assume the stats are backing it up. But they aren't. In the 1970s, it was normal to have dozens of fatal crashes a year. Now, we go years without a major US carrier having a single fatality.
The "scary" videos you see—engines smoking, bird strikes, cracked windshields—are actually examples of the system working. Airplanes are designed with massive redundancy. They can fly on one engine. They can land with failed hydraulics. They can take a lightning strike and keep going.
What we’re seeing is the transparency of the digital age meeting the inherent anxiety of being 30,000 feet in the air.
The Training Gap
Airlines are desperate for pilots.
Post-COVID, a huge wave of senior captains took early retirement packages. This left a massive experience void. To fill it, regional airlines are promoting young first officers faster than ever.
Training is still rigorous—don't get me wrong. The FAA's "1,500-hour rule" is the toughest in the world. But there is no substitute for "grey hair" experience. A captain who has seen 30 winters in Chicago knows things a simulator can't teach.
When you combine less experienced crews with overworked controllers and aging infrastructure, the "margin for error" shrinks. It doesn't disappear, but it gets thinner.
It’s Usually a Chain of Small Things
Plane crashes almost never happen because of one big thing.
Look at the crash of Air France Flight 447 in 2009. It started with ice crystals blocking the pitot tubes (speed sensors). Simple enough. But then the autopilot disconnected. Then the pilots, confused by conflicting data, made the wrong manual inputs. They stalled the plane into the Atlantic.
It was a chain: Weather -> Sensor Failure -> Human Confusion -> Bad Input.
Modern aviation is so safe because we've spent decades breaking these chains. We added Ground Proximity Warning Systems (GPWS) so planes stop flying into mountains. We added TCAS so planes don't hit each other in mid-air.
The reason why so many plane crashes were prevented in the last 20 years is that we learned from every single mistake. Every time a bolt looses or a sensor fails, the entire global fleet gets an Airworthiness Directive to fix it.
How to Handle the "Aviation Anxiety"
If you're genuinely worried about flying, you have to look at the cold, hard numbers.
The odds of being in a fatal plane crash are about 1 in 11 million. You are more likely to be struck by lightning while winning the lottery. Seriously.
But if you want to feel more in control, there are actual things you can do:
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- Fly non-stop. Most accidents happen during takeoff or landing. Fewer legs equals less risk.
- Fly "Mainline." Major carriers (Delta, United, American) generally have more robust maintenance budgets and more experienced crews than ultra-low-cost carriers.
- Check the equipment. If flying on a Boeing 737 MAX makes you nervous, use sites like FlightAware to see what aircraft is scheduled for your route. Most airlines allow you to swap if you're uncomfortable, though you might pay a fee.
- Pay attention to the briefing. I know, I know. You’ve heard it a thousand times. But knowing exactly where the exit is in a smoke-filled cabin is the difference between life and death. Count the rows to the exit.
The aviation industry is currently under a microscope. The FAA is breathing down Boeing’s neck. Airlines are being forced to address controller fatigue. This "scary" period of news headlines is actually the system resetting itself. It’s the sound of the world's safest mode of transport getting even safer through public accountability.
Stop watching the viral TikToks. Look at the NTSB reports if you want the truth. The sky isn't falling; we're just finally seeing how much work it takes to keep it from doing so.
Actionable Next Steps:
To stay informed without the panic, follow the NTSB's official newsroom rather than social media aggregates. If you have an upcoming flight, use the "FlightRadar24" app to track your specific aircraft's history; seeing that your plane has successfully completed six flights in the last 24 hours is a great way to ground your anxiety in reality. Finally, if you're a fearful flier, look into "SOAR," a program designed by Captain Tom Bunn that explains the physics of flight to deconstruct the fear of turbulence.