Data shows air travel remains safe despite increased incident coverage

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- As you buy summer flights and gear up to take to the skies, you may recall some major accidents and incidents on runways and skies across the U.S. But are the skies still safe? The data says yes.

Though there have been some scares and accidents on the tarmac and in the air, air travel in 2025 is actually just as friendly to travelers as ever before.
There was a record low number of airplane accidents nationwide in January with 63 total airplane accidents.

That total was 17 less than the 80 recorded in January 2024. In February -- there have only been 50 incidents -- compared to 93 in 2024 and 83 in 2023.

Purdue University’s manager of aviation safety Stephanie Brown says the accidents and incidents we have seen in the skies and on the runway show more transparency, not more danger. 

" In this day in age, the presence of camera also contributes to the extended coverage of airline incidents" she says. 

Of all the accidents in 2025, only 15 were fatal in the U.S. That means fatal accidents are down 4% this year compared to last.

Data between 2018 and 2022 show the worldwide death risk per boarding was one in 13.4 million - so if you picked a random flight -- the chance of dying in a plane crash was about one in 13 million.

To put that in context, there’s a much higher chance of being killed in a shark attack than to die in a plane crash.
Brown says the numbers tell a story -- that aviation is only getting safer, even though there are more cameras and more coverage on aviation incidents.