Air Travel Safety: Media Sensationalism and Public Perception

In the past month, the dialogue around air travel has changed. Travel by plane is usually regarded as one of the safest forms of transit, but how the public views plane travel has changed. According to Google Trends, the search term “are planes safe” is at the highest it has ever been since Google was founded in 2004. Just the term “plane crashes” has garnered an unprecedented amount of searches with an incredible spike this February. An interesting trend to note, however, is that there have actually been fewer plane crashes this month than on average. This statistic is despite the media reporting on numerous plane crashes around the country, and public opinion on the safety of traveling by air dropping seven percent from a year ago. The stories reported by the media also diverge from the actual trends reported by the National Transportation Safety Board (“NTSB”). At the time this is written, with five days left in February 2025, there have been only 37 plane crashes and four fatal crashes in the United States. Comparatively, in February 2024, there were 93 plane crashes and 12 fatal crashes, but last year lacked the significant spike in searches about plane crashes and media attention.

This trend of numerous stories in the news reporting plane crashes originated with the plane crash over the Potomac River in Washington, DC. On January 29th, American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with UH-60 Black Hawk, an army helicopter based out of Virginia. The crash occurred right near Ronald Reagan National Airport (“DCA”) and killed the 67 people on board the airplane, leaving no survivors and making it the most deadly plane crash since 2001. The response to the crash was immediate, and in its wake, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has restricted helicopter traffic around DCA since the accident. There is no set timeline for if or when those restrictions will be lifted. 

There has since been an investigation launched by the NTSB to identify the cause. New findings by the agency reveal that there may have been data discrepancies that might have caused the accident; the pilots reported different altitudes just before the accident, with one at 300 feet and the other at 400 feet. These discrepancies could indicate miscommunication between the pilots or a failure in one of the aircraft’s systems, both of which could have contributed to the crash. The victims of the crash included 14 members of the US Figure Skating community, including Olympians, aspiring Olympians, their coaches, and their parents. 

Following the American Airlines crash, another incident on February 17th further spurred public anxiety surrounding aviation, despite the different circumstances relating to it. A Bombardier CRJ900 flown by Delta airlines flipped upside down as it was landing in Toronto. All 80 passengers aboard the aircraft survived and were evacuated, with few being in critical but non-life-threatening conditions. The video of the incident spread online and fanned the flames for an already frenzied public, only further exaggerating the risks of air travel. 

The numbers tell a different story. The amount of plane crashes per month has been steadily trending downwards. Further, considering the millions of commercial flights taken per year by Americans, the couple flights that have garnered national attention are tragic, but by no means a statistical anomaly that should be a cause for concern about the safety of air travel. Flights overall have gotten safer. According to Flavio A. Coimbra Mendonça, associate professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, in the last couple decades, accident rates have decreased by 45%. Further, the rate of hull loss dropped 58%, and the rate of fatal accidents dropped 68%. Coimbra Mendonça also notes that although there has been a 17% increase in flights, recent years have produced record-lows for accidents. 

Another serious ramification of a major aviation accident, aside from the tragedy, is the ripple effect it has on the media’s reporting. The advent of social media allows for speculation and sensationalism. Social media and digital reporting allows for increased public interest in plane crashes as the story circulates and recirculates, which keeps it in the media presence for longer. Due to social media, aviation incidents are no longer confined to the news channels to cover. Anyone can now post on Instagram, Facebook, or X about the recent accident, along with their feelings and any facts—whether they are true or not—about the incident. This creates a stronger public reaction to plane crashes, as well as an increased interest in aviation activity.

It is important to remember that your flight to your destination is statistically safer than the car rides to and from the airport. Despite tragic incidents, air travel is less dangerous than ever before, and it is crucial for the public to rely on data, not fear-driven narratives, when making decisions about their safety.