How Many Plane Crashes Have There Been in the U.S. in 2025 vs. 2024?

A string of plane accidents and malfunctions over the past two months has made headlines and rattled travelers across the United States, but have there been more aviation accidents than this time last year?

Why It Matters

With at least four major aviation incidents in the past two months, concerns and hesitancy over flight safety are growing among Americans.

The Trump administration is currently under scrutiny for letting hundreds of probationary FAA employees go only weeks after the deadliest U.S. crash in nearly a quarter century.

What To Know

On Wednesday, two small planes collided in Arizona, with officials reporting there is at least one confirmed death.

The FAA told Newsweek in a statement, “A Lancair collided in midair with a Cessna 172 at Marana Regional Airport in Arizona around 8:25 a.m. local time on Wednesday, February 19. Marana Regional Airport is an uncontrolled field. Two people were on board the Lancair and two people were on board the Cessna 172. The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation.”

Plane Crashes in 2025 Thus Far

So far this year, there have been 87 aviation accidents in the U.S., according to data from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reviewed by Newsweek. This number does not include the newly reported Arizona collision.

According to the data, there were 62 aviation incidents in January and 25 so far in February, as of Wednesday.

Newsweek has reached out to the NTSB and FAA for comment via email on Wednesday.

Not including Arizona, there has been 13 fatal plane crashes in 2025 across the country, occurring in Alaska, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Wyoming, Arkansas, California and Nevada.

While the total number of incidents is lower than the number reported last year, fatalities from crashes have more than doubled in 2025 compared to 2024, with at least 85 people having been killed in crashes this year.

Of the fatal crashes, most planes had a few people on board, with the largest flight being the American Airlines regional jet that collided with a Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. in late January. The collision killed all 67 people onboard.

The second largest was the single-engine Cessna Caravan aircraft operated by Bering Air in Nome, Alaska. All 10 people onboard the flight were killed and have since been identified.

Total Plane Crashes in 2024

In 2024, between January 1 and February 19, there were 123 aviation accidents of various severity according to data from the NTSB. There were 18 fatal incidents, but the number of fatalities was fewer than in 2025, with 42 reported.

None of the incidents between January 1, 2024, and February 19, 2024, involved planes with more than six people onboard. The most significant incident occurred on an Airbus helicopter on February 9, 2024, with all six people onboard reported dead.

Throughout the year, 1,415 aviation accidents were reported, including 257 fatal incidents. Of the 179 fatal incidents that Newsweek obtained records of, there were 306 reported deaths. The deadliest incident was a Pilatus aircraft crash in Recluse, Wyoming, which killed six of the seven people on board, including the pilot.

Why Does It Seem Like There Are More Plane Crashes This Year?

The increased number of reported crashes involving larger aircraft likely contributes to the perception that there are more accidents this year.

Additionally, videos and photos of crashes and collisions circulating on social media might be amplifying these concerns.

Is Airplane Travel Safe?

Experts maintain that flying is extremely safe.

“Aviation is the safest mode of transportation,” NTSB chairperson, Jennifer Homendy, said during a Friday news briefing.

“You are at greater risk getting into your car to and from the airport,” she said, emphasizing that cars and road travel are the most dangerous form of transport in the U.S. “43,000 people are dying on our nation’s roads annually, millions more injured. Aviation is incredibly safe.”

Despite this, an AP-NORC poll conducted between February 6 and 10 of 1,112 adults found that Americans confidence in air travel safety is dropping, with 64 percent of U.S. adults considering plane travel “very safe” or “somewhat safe,” down from 71 percent last year.

Around 20 percent of participants believe flying is very or somewhat unsafe, compared to 12 percent in 2024.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

What Happened to the Delta Plane Crash in Toronto?

On Monday, a Delta Air Lines jet from Minneapolis flipped on its roof while landing amid a period of extreme winds at the Toronto Pearson Airport. All 80 people on board survived, with several reported injuries.

The CRJ-900, a widely used regional jet, was developed by Canadian aerospace company Bombardier. It belongs to the same aircraft family as the CRJ-700, the model involved in the mid-air collision near Reagan National Airport on January 29.

What Happens Next?

The new administration is aware of the struggles in American aviation safety, which appears to have influenced their decision to exclude air traffic controllers from the “buyout” offered as part of efforts to reduce the federal workforce.

The NTSB is still investigating the major plane crashes with more details on what led to the catastrophe likely to emerge over the coming weeks and months.