Feb 24, 2025 - Transit
Flying is still the safest way to travel
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
This year is on pace for fewer fatal aviation accidents compared to the last several years, despite recent high-profile crashes.
Why it matters: It may seem like more planes are falling out of the sky, but the data paints a different picture.
By the numbers: There have been 13 fatal U.S. aviation accidents so far in 2025, per NTSB data.
- There were 31 such accidents in January and February 2024, 28 during those months in 2023, 33 in 2022, and 39 in 2021.
Caveat: It's a measurement of overall accidents, not the number of fatalities.
- So January's tragic midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which killed 67 people, only counts once.
- Still, it was the country's first major fatal commercial air disaster in about 16 years — a remarkable stretch of safe flying.
The bottom line: Frequency illusion is a heck of a thing, and statistically speaking, flying is still the safest way to travel.