One of airlines’ policies is keeping their customers not only safe but secure as well. Airlines want their customers to have a protected flight and be able to land at their destination in a smooth manner. But what happens when one of their top promises is crumbling down as people speak? There have been many accidents involving aircrafts in recent years. People are now questioning if it’s safe to fly with the increase of the recent amount of planes failing to bring people to their destinations.
The Beginning
The United States has been left with multiple issues involving aircrafts. The most known one being the September 11, 2001 attacks that occurred with four planes being hijacked by terrorists that had a planned out suicide mission. All four of those planes crashed; two crashed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center, one crashed into the Pentagon, and the last one crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Now the victims are deeply missed by family and friends, having a day to pay remembrance to.
A total of 2,977 people passed that day, including all pilots along with passengers on those flights, and a number of workers and clients in the trade towers. This was a tragic day for all of America. It was a sign for airports to start taking peoples’ safety seriously, since aircrafts weren’t the only thing that needed to be safe, travelers had to as well. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was established in all airports, putting a restriction on what passengers, pilots and flight attendants are allowed to bring onto flights.
After September 11, 2001, airports upgraded their security by not allowing people to bring any sort of weapons, and conducting body and luggage checks before entering the area of departing and arriving gates. Although, most of the problems seem to be from people sneaking on any sort of weapon. However, more problems have risen in recent years where most of the planes are failing, and not being able to be relied upon.
March 8, 2018 | Disappeared From Radar
A lot of attention has been paid to Malaysia Flight 370, the government of Malaysia has decided to reopen the disappearance case and continue a search that has been ongoing for six years. They believe that with the technology of today, it is possible to track this flight and discover what exactly happened on the aircraft. In 2024 they reopened the case, but decided to use Artificial intelligence and underwater drones along with satellites in this situation.
On March 8, 2018, Malaysia Flight 370, vanished from the radar with no communication going in or out. On the Malaysia Airlines flight, they were carrying 239 passengers from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; their final destination was supposed to be Beijing, China. It is said that the plane flew around the ocean for multiple hours, providing a satellite communication to the nearest one. A search was placed in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Australia to Central Asia which was the official route the pilots were meant to take. When the flight departed around 12:40 AM, nothing was wrong, there were no issues, and no storms were currently happening or about to arrive.
However, around one in the morning, things were becoming weird on the other side of the data. The plane’s last communication addressing and reporting system was last sent out only an hour later from departing; it’s supposed to be updating every hour during flight. Also, since the plane was flying overseas, they were entering another territory and were supposed to be switched from Malaysia’s airspace flight tower to Beijing’s flight tower, and when the Air Traffic Controller said its final goodbyes to the pilots of Flight 370, the pilot replied with “Goodnight”, which doesn’t usually happen. Approximately a minute later, the plane disappears from the radar.
That was the last and final words people know about; what people don’t know is where this plane is located today. It’s not normal or a plane to disappear, there is always a cause behind planes going missing. Flight 370 still has an unknown case almost eleven years later. An investigation began several days after the plane vanished, with all fingers being pointed at the Captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Families and friends were left stranded with no answers about their missing loved ones. So far, pieces of the aircraft are slowly being found and remaining theories about the so-called accident are still being shared.
February 10, 2025 | Private Jet Of Vince Neil
At Arizona’s Scottsdale airport, a private jet was beginning to land on the runway, but the pilot lost control of the aircraft. The airplane swerved until it crashed into a parked aircraft on the apron, leaving the Scottsdale Arizona’s Airport runway closed. It was revealed that Motley Crue’s signer, Vince Neil, had owned the jet and was flying with his girlfriend and one other passenger that hasn’t been revealed. The three passengers were hurt and admitted to get treatment, while the 78-year-old pilot, Joie Vitosky, was presumed dead at the scene.
February 10, 2025 | Emergency Evacuation
On the same as the Vince Neil Jet crash, a Hawaii Airlines flight was facing issues that led to an evacuation. After departing from Hawaii, a flight was grounded when smoke was seen leaving the left engine. The pilots decided to return to Honolulu and to switch the passengers onto a different aircraft. Thankfully, no serious injuries occurred, and the crew handled the situation well. These are just two of nearly a hundred and thirteen aviation accidents in the second month of 2025.
February 12, 2025 | San Diego Bay
Two days after the Hawaii Airlines emergency evacuation, a military fighter jet crashed into the San Diego Bay. Despite the ongoing investigation, not much information has been released, but fortunately, the two crew members ejected before the plane nose-dived into the bay. They were taken to a medical center for medical evaluations to ensure no damage had occurred to them or their body. Suspicion has led to the possibility of an engine failure before the two members could land at a Naval Air Station nearby.
January 29, 2025 | Midair Collision
In the dead of night, a military Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter collided into a commercial plane mid-air, causing both aircrafts to disappear from the radars. The crash was head on, with sixty-seven people losing their lives the night of January 29, 2025. Twenty-eight passengers out of the total of sixty-four on the plane were a part of the United States Figure Skating team, including skaters, coaches, managers, and family. They were returning home after a national development camp that was held after the 2025 U.S Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
Several of those figure skaters had accomplished a lifelong dream of theirs, not only winning medals, but displaying their talent in that path. This flight was devastating news for their families and competitors, with future competitions and championships losing a group of future and current Olympic figure skaters that would’ve brought home the gold. Most of the figure skaters were blessed with having titles and championships in their name, even some skating and being on the Olympic figure skating team.
Many family and friends hadn’t only lost a loved one that night, they also lost something inside them. The youngest competitor to have lost their life was eleven years old, while the coaches were fifty to sixty years old; they all had died together, doing something they loved as their last experience as a team
Police officers and emergency responders worked hard to recover the bodies of all passengers, they had searched the Potomac river and were successful in finding parts of both aircrafts, letting the families have some sort of relief of their loved ones’ bodies being recovered. Several days after recovering the victims, family members were escorted to the crash scene to look at where their loved ones had passed. The remaining wreckage of both the helicopter and American Airlines plane will be transported to somewhere safe and secure to conduct further examinations. There will also be a tribute to pay to the victims and a fundraiser held on March 2, 2025 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. They will be remembering and cherishing the figure skaters who had passed on American Airlines Flight 5342.
On the military black hawk helicopter, three soldiers from the United States Army were performing a training flight for their commanders. With the two pilots being identified as Captain Rebecca Lobach and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, in the back of the helicopter they had their crew Chief, Staff Sergeant Ryan Austin O’Hara. The three had left their base Fort Belvoir on a scheduled training flight in the dead of the night- they parted with their colleagues expecting to be back soon. Unfortunately, that expectation was ruined when they collided mid air with the commercial airplane.
The families of Eaves and O’Hara had already hugged them goodbye when the two went to serve deployments in Afghanistan, and the families were more than excited to hug them as they returned home. Sadly, these families won’t be able to hug them again in the least expected way. All of the soldiers were loving, kind and had a joy for serving and protecting their country. Their souls will be deeply missed in the military- these warriors had paid their last contribution, training for their country.
February 17, 2025 | Toronto, Canada
Every single one of these planes had disappeared from the naval air radar during their crash, meaning they lost all service and communication from the airport directional towers. There have been multiple cases similar to planes not communicating; especially flights outside of the United States. On February 17, 2025. On Monday, a Delta Airlines flight crash landed at the Toronto Pearson International airport. It crashed into the airport runway and flipped upside down while making an effort to stop the plane.
Flight attendants did their best to keep everyone calm and safe while being flipped over. After the incident, they guided people out of the plane through the emergency exits. Passengers were left in shock when they escaped the plane. The plane was upside down with no wings in sight and some parts had the beginning of a small fire.
Fortunately, all seventy-six travelers and the four crew members left the aircraft alive, although at least eighteen were brought to nearby hospitals to be treated for their injuries. For the next couple of days, the runway that the plane landed on remained closed, and they will conduct investigations in order to discover the reason as to why this plane failed.
The Outcome
Flight passengers are now becoming careful when it comes to traveling by air. With all of the media coverage of issues involving planes, people are beginning to look at other ways of traveling. More planes are having issues, potentially becoming more dangerous every year.The problems that planes are having is becoming a worldwide issue, and by the looks of the year so far- it’s possibly getting worse. It affects many people including students graduating from their high school and leaving the state they’ve known for so many years and people wanting to travel the world or see a tourist sight; they’re at risk when choosing to book a flight to wherever they please. Families are becoming worried about people leaving them, not knowing if they have to face a devastating phone call involving a family member or more not returning back home.
