A Pilot Gives the Real Reason For All The Recent Plane Crashes
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It’s not all that uncommon to see negative headlines. In fact, many journalists are driven by the classic mantra “if it bleeds, it leads,” which describes how negative headlines drive sales and clicks. Therefore, it’s easy to ignore certain media trends, but none of us could ignore all the bizarre plane crashes of 2025.
There seemed to be breathless headlines about new plane crashes every time we turned around, and this prompted some serious questions. Why are all these planes crashing? Is it safe to travel? And what the heck was so different about 2025 that it just keeps sending these metal monstrosities tumbling from the sky?
Recently, a pilot chimed in with a down-to-earth (so to speak) explanation of what’s going on. What’s the truth behind these alarming crashes, and should you start canceling your travel plans? Keep reading to find out!
2025 is a bad year for planes
Lost track of all the plane crash headlines? Don’t worry, we’ll get you up to speed. Back in January, a passenger plane and a military helicopter collided near Washington, DC., killing 67 people. Two days later, an air ambulance crashed almost immediately after takeoff in Philadelphia.
That would have been bad enough, but on February 6, a commuter plane navigating the Alaskan coast vanished from radar and then crashed. And on February 17, a plane landing in Toronto touched down on the runway and flipped entirely over, leaving all of its passengers both shaken and stirred (but, miraculously, leaving them alive).
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Critics try to find who to blame for the crashes
These airplane crashes were all over the news…it was basically impossible to even go on the internet without hearing about them. And it didn’t take long for internet users to do what they do best: try to point the blame at other people. Everyone had the same question: who was to blame for all these crashes?
A common target of conspiracy theorists looking for someone to blame was, of course, newly-elected President Donald Trump. The president has not historically been a fan of governmental regulations, including those intended to keep others safe. A common online narrative quickly formed that Trump must have something to do with these crashes.
Honestly, that narrative never made much sense to us. But what’s really happening with these plane crashes? Just when we thought we’d never know, a pilot chimed in with a very surprising answer.
A pilot chimes in
Reddit is a kind of social media platform where users can make posts and write comments for a variety of specialized interests which all have their own messageboards known as subreddits. One very popular subreddit is AMA, which stands for “Ask Me Anything.” Here, experts and celebrities make themselves available for the general public to ask them…well…anything!
It was in this subreddit that one American airline captain posted his own AMA, and it didn’t take long for someone to ask him the obvious question: “Why are all the crashes happening recently?” The captain’s response was that “They’re not happening any more than they have in the past. The news has just made it a focus recently so you’re hearing about it more.”
Continuing, he pointed out that 2025 has not actually set any kind of record for plane crashes. “We’re right on average so far this year with as many that were expected. And most of those are small planes. The American airline safety record is impeccable and I expect that to continue.” In other words, there aren’t more crashes; instead, there is more reporting of crashes, creating a kind of illusion of increased danger.
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A professor corroborates the pilot’s claims
We didn’t have any reason to disbelieve the pilot, but we initially took his statements with a grain of salt. For one thing, Reddit offers anonymity to its users, so there’s no easy way to verify the man’s credentials or work experience. For another thing, he may be biased…many ended up canceling their travel plans out of fear of crashing, and this could ultimately affect his own job, encouraging him to tell everyone that the skies are safer than they are.
However, MIT professor of statistics Arnold Barnett basically corroborated what the pilot said. As reported by LAD Bible, the professor said that “In the overwhelming majority of months, there are no fatal accidents on scheduled flights anywhere in the world.” Additionally, he claims that “the prominent recent crashes had very different causes, so they offer no evidence of a systematic problem that has become much more dangerous.”
Testimony from these experts is meant to be reassuring…a way of telling us that flying isn’t any more dangerous than it has ever been. Of course, cynical flyers might not find this so reassuring. Considering how scary all the 2025 crashes have been, it’s downright terrifying for some to think that this is actually normal for air travel!