Air travel is regarded as one of the safest modes of transport. In 2024, a study from MIT also found that commercial airplanes have become roughly twice as safe every decade since the 1960s. Compared to traveling by car, which has approximately 1 fatality per 83,000 passenger journeys, commercial aviation has a fatality rate of 1 per 7.9 million journeys, making it much safer than automotive travels.
However, there is still a significant number of airplane crashes today. While plane crashes are rare, when they do happen, the impact is often catastrophic. It may even make the flying experience terrifying for some individuals due to a lack of understanding of why crashes happen.
If you have ever wondered why airplane crashes happen, we are here to help you understand. Let us take a look at common causes of plane crashes and what really happens during a plane crash.
Why do airplane crashes happen?
There are many factors of aviation accidents. Determining the cause of a plane crash is critical in conducting in-depth investigation to fully understand what happened. Flight track data, air traffic control transcript, and sometimes aircraft record in-flight data are used to identify the cause.
When investigating airplane accidents, the Swiss Cheese model by James Reason was often used to explain its causation. This model compares human system defenses as a series of slices of randomly-holed Swiss Cheese, arranged vertically and parallel to each other with gaps between each slice. Each slice represents a protective barrier, such as organizational policies, supervision standards, operating procedures, or frontline actions by pilots and crew. The “holes" in each slice represent possible weaknesses that can emerge from time to time.
An accident can only occur when these holes temporarily align, allowing a hazard to pass through every layer of defence. This means aviation incidents are rarely caused from a single error, rather, they happen only when multiple safeguards fail simultaneously.
Below are some of the most common causes of plane crashes:
Human error in aviation
Human error in aviation is one of the most frequent causes of aviation accidents. Pilots have generally gone through lengthy training to give them sufficient skills of planning flights, knowledge of the mechanical components of a plane, and the required hand-eye coordination skills to effectively and safely maneuver an aircraft.
However, working for long hours with irregular shifts can cause mental exhaustion and immense pressure, resulting in disorientation or lack of situational awareness. Unexpected factors such as weather changes may also cause judgement errors when pilots have to make split-second decisions. Not only that, unclear instructions and misunderstandings among aircraft employees may lead to adverse outcomes.
One example is the Colgan Air Flight 3407 accident on February 12 2009. The plane departed on its routine 53-minute flight to Buffalo Niagara International Airport from Newark Liberty International Airport. Due to what was determined as acute crew fatigue, the plane crashed into a residential home in Clarence Center, New York, killing all 49 people on board and one person on ground.
Airplane mechanical failure
Proper aircraft maintenance is extremely important for aviation safety. When any part of an aircraft’s mechanical, structural, or instrument systems stops functioning as intended, pilots may lose partial or full control, which jeopardizes the flight. Design defects can also lead to failures due to compromised components like engines, propellers, wings, or cockpit instruments. In addition, system or instrument malfunctions pose major risks, especially altimeters, airspeed indicators, and other avionics.
On October 7 2019, for example, a passenger turboprop airplane, PenAir flight 3296, overran a runway during a landing attempt. This incident was caused by its braking system being compromised by incorrectly wired anti-skid sensors. The airplane crashed through the perimeter fence, crossed a road, and stopped on the edge of Dutch Harbor. One passenger was killed while another was seriously injured and eight sustained minor injuries. The flight crew, flight attendant, and the rest of the 29 passengers were unharmed.
Weather-related incidents
Weather is often a key factor in aviation accidents. Pilots and air traffic controllers are responsible for being aware of the weather conditions along the flight route. In the event of a plane crash, obtaining information about the weather when the accident took place is also important to fully understand the cause of the crash.
One of the examples of weather-related aviation accidents is the Antonov AN-26 operated by Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka Aviation in Russia. On July 6 2021, the plane took off from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia to Palana with 22 passengers and six crew members. Due to the foggy and cloudy weather in Palana, the plane crashed, killing all 28 people on board.
What happens during a plane crash?
A plane crash happens in a blur of critical moments. Every phase can affect the casualties and aftermath. Before a crash, pilots might get sudden alarms or notice system failures. Air traffic controllers will try to guide pilots to a safer route or emergency landing site if possible. Passengers may notice oxygen masks dropping if pressure is lost.
At this point, pilots must follow emergency protocols, communicating with control towers and preparing the cabin. If an emergency landing is decided, they will try to control the descent angle and speed.
When a plane hits the ground, the massive force causes the plane’s structure to break apart or split at the wings or doors. A shallow, controlled descent is less fatal than a nose-first dive. Modern planes are built with fire-resistant materials and floor lighting to aid evacuation, but the survival of passengers and crew also depend on how they brace and act fast. Panic may also make evacuation longer and more challenging, which is why the crew’s ability to stay calm and guide passengers is critical.
What happens after a plane crash?
After a crash, the response is immediate and highly coordinated. Emergency teams arrive to save lives, secure the area, and preserve critical evidence. First responders search for survivors, providing them medical aid, and transporting the injured to hospitals, while police and rescue crews try to salvage both safety and potential clues. The crash site is locked down to protect evidence. Together with eyewitness accounts, radar data, and air traffic recordings, a clear timeline of the accident can be constructed and understood.
You may be familiar with black boxes. These are tough devices that are able to survive crashes, containing the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Once the black box is recovered from the wreckage, they can be analyzed in labs. The FDR shows the plane’s speed, altitude, and control inputs, while the CVR records cockpit sounds and conversations.
As the analysis helps reconstruct the accident, a simulation of the flight may be created using every scrap of data to fill the whole story. Finally, a final report is produced for manufacturers, airlines, and regulators. For the aviation company, this means getting recommendations for design tweaks, new training, updated rules, or communication systems for a safer flight.
How many airplane crashes happened in 2025?
According to JACDEC, a German consulting firm that tracks aviation safety, the number of airplane crashes in 2025 is 460 after the Air India Flight 171crash on June 12, 2025. This number is higher than the average over the past decade of 284. Below are some of the most recent plane crashes this past year:
Air India Flight 171
On June 12, 2025, in Ahmedabad, India, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner experienced a catastrophic engine failure shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India, killing at least 290 people. Only one person survived from the passengers and crew. This incident was considered the deadliest this decade since the MH17 incident in 2014, and was the first fatal crash and hull loss from a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It also turned 2025 into one of the deadliest years for civil aviation in the past decade.
American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700
Back on January 29, an American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700, Flight 5342, collided mid-air with a US Army Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, DC. Occurring near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, this catastrophic collision killed all 64 passengers and crew along with the three crew members aboard the helicopter. The plane was approaching from Wichita, Kansas and the crash happened at about 300 feet altitude. It was the deadliest air disaster in the US since 2001 as well as the first major commercial flight crash the country has witnessed in 16 years.
Bering Air Flight 445
A Textron Aviation (Cessna) 208B airplane, N321BA, operated as Bering Air flight 445, was destroyed in an accident on February 6 2025 near Nome, Alaska. The accident site was north of a stationary front stretching west to east from the Bering Sea into northwestern Canada.The pilot and nine passengers were fatally injured. A preliminary NTSB report showed that the plane was overweight for weather conditions. Severe icing conditions and mechanical failure were also suspected causes in the accident.
Aerolinea LANHSA Flight 018
On March 17, 2025, the aircraft Jetstream 3200 operated by LANHSA as commercial flight LNH-018 crashed into the Caribbean Sea in Honduras. The plane was headed for Golosón International Airport in La Ceiba from Roatán Island. It crashed into the sea at 18:18 local time due to engine failure shortly after takeoff, killing 12 of the 17 passengers and crew, including Honduran singer and politician Aurelio Martínez. The plane wreckage was found 0.62 miles off the coast.
Cessna Citation S550
On May 22, 2025, a Cessna Citation S550, N666DS, operating as a personal flight, was involved in an accident near San Diego, California. The crash fatally injured the pilot and five passengers and minorly injured eight people on ground. The plane departed at Colonel James Jabara Airport (AAO), Wichita, Kansas, where it was refueled before leaving for Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport (MYF). The cause of the accident was due to flying below the published glide path, leading to the aircraft striking high-voltage power lines approximately two miles from the airport before crashing into a nearby neighborhood. The crash impacted one residential structure and 20 vehicles.
Final Thoughts
If you have ever wondered why so many airplane crashes happen, it’s important to understand that aviation accidents tend to make headlines due to the scale of the disaster. Statistically, they occur rarely and often without any meaningful pattern or connection. While the incidents of airplane crashes today may seem alarming, air travel remains the safest mode of transportation with rigorous global safety standards and strict regulatory measures.
Aviation authorities and airlines are also consistently pushing for improvements by studying every incident, updating procedures, and refining aircraft design with innovations to prevent future tragedies. Each new lesson learned further strengthens the reliability of air travel for millions of passengers every day.