When people fly, they often don’t pay much attention to the name of the plane. However, it is no longer uncommon for the name of those flights to be etched into history as accidents in the sky. American Eagle Flight 5342. Airbus A321-200. Embraer 190AR. Boeing 737-800. These along with several other incidents have all occurred within the last month. 

Since the creation of airplanes in 1903, there have been countless accidents of these contraptions that gave humans the power to travel faster than they ever have. 

The recent events with the infamous Boeing 737 MAX is perhaps a perfect example of how human-made objects are bound to have human mistakes. The Federal Aviation Administration, or F.A.A., states that the Boeing 737 MAX was grounded from March 2019 to December 2020. It became safe to fly before being grounded again in 2024 due to further issues with the aircraft.

While the probability of an accident aboard a plane is never zero, it does seem that there has been a surge in the number that are deadly enough to make it into the news, especially on American soil. 

On January 29, an American Airlines plane crashed with an Amy helicopter into the Potomac River in New York, leaving 67 dead. Two days after that, a medical jet crashed in Philadelphia, killing six people.

On February 6, a Bering Air Flight headed to Alaska had vanished, never reaching its final destination. According to CNN, the plane was found later with all nine passengers and pilot dead. To add fuel to the flame, the F.A.A. had an aviation alert system outage. While this breakdown was temporary and restored quickly, it brings people to wonder if the F.A.A. is able to function properly.

The Washington Post states, “The F.A.A. has earned the nickname ‘the tombstone agency’ among aviation safety advocates for not addressing potential problems until disaster struck.” Because the United States had a stretch of time in which it did not experience aviation accidents resulting in major fatality, former F.A.A. officials claim the agency has become complacent. 

The Washington Post cites pilot error and treacherous conditions as the main reasons for the rise in crashes in recent weeks. And while those may be the biggest causes, NPR states that the air traffic control system has been understaffed for years, leading to close calls and tragic accidents. Today, travelling by air is still relatively safe though it’s obvious that the system needs some fixing.