What’s Happening in Aviation?

The recent surge in aviation accidents is alarming. Over the past 2.5 months, multiple tragic incidents have occurred, resulting in significant loss of life. Here is a recap of the major accidents:

• December 25, 2024 – An Azerbaijan Embraer E190 was accidentally shot down by Russian forces, killing all 38 people on board.
• December 29, 2024 – A Jeju Air Boeing 737 crashed into a concrete wall after landing in South Korea, resulting in 179 fatalities.
• January 29, 2025 – A U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines CRJ-700 over Washington, D.C., killing 67 people on the aircraft and 3 in the helicopter. On the same day, a Beechcraft 1900B crashed in South Sudan, claiming 20 lives.
• January 31, 2025 – A Learjet 55 crashed shortly after takeoff in Philadelphia, killing 7 people.
• February 6, 2025 – A Beechcraft King Air 300 crashed in the Philippines, resulting in 4 fatalities. Additionally, a Cessna Grand Caravan went missing in Alaska. It was later found, with all 4 occupants deceased.
• February 17, 2025 – A Delta Airlines Bombardier CRJ900 crashed during landing in Toronto. Fortunately, all passengers and crew survived.

In total, 328 people have lost their lives in seven aviation accidents within just 2.5 months.

Of course, each of these accidents will be thoroughly investigated, and each will have unique causes and contributing factors. However, when looking at them collectively, we are reminded of the Swiss Cheese Model of accident causation. In aviation safety, we rely on multiple layers of defense—regulations, training, technology, and procedures—to prevent disasters. Each layer has weaknesses, like holes in slices of Swiss cheese. A catastrophic event occurs when these holes align, allowing an accident to slip through all safety barriers.

Some of these recent crashes highlight gaps that could have been addressed. A lack of a proper installation of localizer antennas at the end of the runway in South Korea, the use of surface-to-air missiles in Azerbaijan, and flight altitude mismanagement in Washington, D.C. all represent avoidable failures where additional safety measures could have saved lives.

As aviation professionals, we have worked tirelessly for decades to make flying safer, developing advanced systems and procedures to minimize risks. However, these tragedies remind us that our efforts must continue. The industry must remain vigilant, constantly reinforcing safety barriers to prevent future accidents. However, these recent tragedies serve as a stark reminder that our work is never done.

We can only hope that this spike in aviation accidents is an unfortunate anomaly in the early months of 2025 and that safety improvements will follow to prevent future tragedies.