A reoccurring theme in recent news coverage has been the consecutive plane crashes and altercations in 2025.

Only three months into 2025, and plane crashes have become an eerily common topic.

“I have been hearing about plane crashes a lot more often lately,” sophomore Jared Navas says. “At least a couple in the past few weeks.”

There were approximately 53 accidents between Jan. 20 and Feb. 20 recorded by the National Transportation Safety Board. Six of these 53 were fatal.

“This only worries me a little,” Navas says. “It just makes me nervous for the next time I have to step on a plane.”

Recently, Elon Musk has been getting intermixed with this air traffic issue as he was accused by Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, of attempting to fire air traffic controllers, despite all of the recent crashes.

The meeting where this was brought up was initially to discuss Musk’s involvement in reshaping the federal government and further explain his role. President DonaldTrump emphasized that Musk was not the one in control of staffing and policy decisions, but the Cabinet secretaries.

Musk denied these claims, instead saying that DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion, hires were in control towers, and are responsible for inefficiencies. As Duffy scrambled for an answer, the conversation was quickly shut down by Trump.

The Federal Aviation Administration cuts seemingly have nothing to do with the crashes, but the topic was not far enough elaborated on to be sure.

But are there really more crashes happening, or is the news covering it more?

Commercial flight accidents are rare according to the NTSB. There are around 1,100 or more aviation accidents recorded each year, and these accidents rarely involve commercial aircrafts.

Especially considering everyday the FAA handles around 45,000 flights, it makes that number appear miniscule.

As the crashes continue to happen the news either covers these crashes to spread awareness, or to continue the ongoing story that previously gained a lot of attention, even if the crashes they cover are not fatal.

Overall, it is safe to fly along with the regular risks of air travel, nothing irregular has been recorded. In fact, NTSB data actually shows that the number of aviation accidents has decreased from 2005 to 2024.