Is Flying Safe in 2026? What Real Incidents and Latest Data Reveal

Joanna Teljeur

By:  Joanna Teljeur

13 minutes read

Last Updated:  July 17, 2026

Reviewed by:  Anton Radchenko

Yes, flying is safe. It remains by far the safest way to travel long distances. In 2025, the world’s airlines operated 38.7 million flights with just 8 fatal accidents, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA)¹. Even in a year with a few high-profile crashes, your odds of being in a fatal accident on any given flight are vanishingly small.

For many travellers, the idea of flying is still a source of stress, fear, or deep discomfort. Whether it’s the noise of the engines during takeoff, the occasional jolt of turbulence, or the thought of being tens of thousands of feet above the ground, flying taps into fears that can feel very real, even if they are not statistically justified.

These fears are often made worse by the media landscape we live in. When a plane experiences a mechanical issue or an emergency landing, it often becomes a headline. And when tragic accidents do happen, as they did in 2024 and 2025, the coverage can be overwhelming. So, is flying still the safest way to travel?

The Truth About Aviation Safety

Flying is safer now than it has ever been. Aviation professionals around the world operate within one of the most tightly regulated and meticulously monitored industries there is.

Every commercial flight is the product of thousands of checks and carefully trained decisions. And while no system is entirely free from risk, the scale and consistency of global aviation safety data make one thing clear: flying remains the safest way to travel long distances.

So, let’s look at the most recent aviation safety data, explore some of the more serious incidents and what we’ve learned from them, and find out why flying is still one of the safest forms of transportation.

How Often Do Accidents Happen?

Accidents are genuinely rare events. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the industry operated around 38.7 million commercial flights in 2025, with 51 accidents in total, of which only 8 were fatal, resulting in 394 onboard deaths¹.

Here is what the 2025 numbers look like at a glance:

• All-accident rate: 1.32 per million flights, or about one accident for every 760,000 flights¹.
• Fatality risk: 0.17 per million flights¹.
• Fatal accidents: 8, spread across 38.7 million flights¹.

Onboard fatalities rose from 244 in 2024 to 394 in 2025, but this was driven by a small number of events. The Air India 171 crash and the Washington, D.C. mid-air collision alone accounted for more than three-quarters of all onboard deaths that year¹. The overall accident rate actually improved compared with 2024.

The long-term trend is even clearer. A decade ago (2012–2016), the industry averaged one fatal accident for every 3.5 million flights. For the most recent five-year period (2021–2025), that improved to one fatal accident for every 5.6 million flights¹. In other words, flying keeps getting safer.

A 2024 study from MIT put a number on that progress. Looking at deaths per passenger boarding worldwide, the researchers found the risk of dying on a commercial flight fell to 1 in 13.7 million boardings in 2018–2022, down from 1 in 7.9 million in 2008–2017 and 1 in 350,000 back in the late 1960s. The risk has been roughly halving every decade, a pattern the lead author compared to a “Moore’s Law” for aviation safety.

Is Flying Safer Than Driving?

This is the comparison most nervous flyers actually want, and the gap is enormous. The drive to the airport is almost always the most dangerous part of the trip.

The clearest way to see it is deaths measured against distance travelled. Using U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics data for 2023:

Per mile travelled, driving is roughly 180 times more dangerous than flying. The U.S. National Safety Council puts the lifetime odds of dying as an airline passenger as “too small to calculate,” while your lifetime odds of dying in a car crash sit at about 1 in 95. Over a full 20-year stretch, U.S. commercial aviation recorded a tiny fraction of the deaths and injuries seen on the roads, even though hundreds of millions of people fly every year.

Our instincts get this so wrong because of how the two are covered. A single crash is worldwide news for days, while the tens of thousands of road deaths each year rarely make a headline. Your brain remembers the rare, dramatic event and quietly ignores the far more common one.

Recent Accidents

Every year, tens of millions of commercial flights operate safely. But when a crash does happen, it makes you wonder if it could happen to you. The table below shows key plane accidents that happened in 2024–2025. 

Understanding Each Tragedy & What It Teaches Us

1. Tokyo’s Haneda Airport collision involved a Japan Airlines A350 and a Coast Guard aircraft. While five crew members in the latter died, all A350 passengers survived due to swift evacuation⁵.
2. In Malaysia, a mid-air collision between two Royal Navy helicopters during a rehearsal claimed ten lives⁶. 
3. In Nepal, pilot error during takeoff led to a deep stall and crash, killing 18 of the 19 onboard⁷. 
4. Brazil’s Voepass Flight 2283 encountered icing conditions and crashed in a flat spin, killing all passengers and crew⁸. 
5. An engine fire aboard Swiss Flight 1885 required an emergency landing in Austria; one crew member died, but all passengers survived⁹.
6. In January 2025, a mid-air collision between a regional jet and a military helicopter near Washington, D.C., killed 67 people. This led to immediate changes in flight path regulations by the FAA¹⁰. 
7. The Air India crash in June 2025 became the worst commercial aviation accident of the period, prompting global reviews of fuel management systems and pilot training protocols¹¹ ¹².

Even though these accidents tragically cost many lives, they still show a system in action. The failures that caused these incidents were identified and rigorously investigated, which led to important lessons and more flight safeguards. National agencies and international bodies, for example, took additional steps to enhance flight monitoring, aircraft design, staff training, route planning, and passenger safety mechanisms to prevent anything similar from happening in the future.

Most accidents are also survivable. An often-cited U.S. National Transportation Safety Board review of accidents between 1983 and 2000 found that 95.7% of the people involved lived through them. Films and headlines make a crash look unsurvivable, but the record shows otherwise.

Why Flying Is Still the Safest Way to Travel

First, aircraft are engineered with redundancy in every system. This means that the most critical components, such as engines, hydraulic systems, electrical circuits, and avionics, have backups built in. For example, most commercial aircraft are equipped with at least two engines and are designed to continue flying, and even land safely, with only one engine in operation. Similarly, flight control systems are powered by multiple hydraulic units, so if one fails, others can maintain full operability.

Electrical systems are equipped with backup generators and batteries in case the main system fails. Navigation and communication tools are often duplicated, allowing pilots to switch to an alternative system without losing situational awareness. 

Pilots train rigorously to manage emergencies, including system failures, adverse weather, and in-flight emergencies. In the United States, airline first officers need a minimum of 1,500 flight hours before they can fly for a commercial carrier, and their regular training includes simulator-based scenarios designed to mimic worst-case conditions so that, in real life, they can respond with speed and precision.

Also, it’s important to understand that go-arounds and flight delays due to safety checks are reassuring signs. A go-around (when a pilot aborts a landing) is a routine, precautionary decision that crews are trained to make. When a flight is delayed for maintenance or inspection, it usually means the airline is choosing caution over risk.

New technology also enhances these safeguards. Advanced weather radar systems allow aircraft to detect and avoid storms long before turbulence is felt. GPS-based routing helps with more precise navigation and reduces the likelihood of human error. Meanwhile, onboard automation systems monitor everything from engine performance to cabin pressure, providing instant alerts to flight crews and maintenance teams if something needs attention¹³.

These overlapping layers of engineering and training work together to keep flying the most safety-conscious form of travel in the world.

If your flight was delayed, canceled or overbooked within the last 3 years, you could be eligible for up to €600 in compensation.Check Your Flight

Is Turbulence Dangerous?

Turbulence is the single most common trigger for flight anxiety, yet it is one of the least dangerous things that happens on a plane. It feels alarming because your body is not used to the motion, but the aircraft is built to handle forces far greater than anything you will feel in the cabin.

Keep these in mind next time the seatbelt sign pings on:

• Turbulence does not bring down airliners. No modern commercial jet in the United States has been lost to turbulence in decades. Wings are engineered to flex and absorb far more stress than routine bumps ever create.
• Injuries are rare, and mostly preventable. Between 2009 and 2022, the FAA recorded 163 serious turbulence injuries in the U.S. Of those, 129 were crew members (who are often up and working) and only 34 were passengers.
• The seatbelt is the whole game. The large majority of people hurt in turbulence were not buckled up. Keeping your belt fastened whenever you are seated, even when the sign is off, removes almost all of the risk.

Turbulence is uncomfortable to sit through, but the aircraft handles it easily. Treat it like a bumpy road rather than a warning sign.

Scared of Flying? You Are in Good Company

If flying makes you anxious, you are far from alone, and it does not mean you are being irrational. Fear of flying (aerophobia) affects an estimated 25 million adults in the United States, and surveys suggest that up to 40% of people feel at least some nervousness before a flight. Only a small share, roughly 2.5% to 6.5%, have a fear severe enough to be considered a clinical phobia.

Part of the reason the fear is so common is that flying removes your sense of control and pairs it with unfamiliar sensations. Your brain then overweights the rare, dramatic outcome it has seen on the news, even though the statistics point the other way. Aerophobia responds very well to simple techniques and, in stronger cases, to therapy.

A few things that genuinely help nervous flyers:

• Learn what the sounds mean. Gear retracting, flaps moving, and engine power changes are all normal. Naming them removes the mystery.
• Book a seat over the wing. It sits near the aircraft’s centre of gravity, where motion is felt the least.
• Use slow, controlled breathing. Breathing out for longer than you breathe in calms the body’s stress response within a couple of minutes.
• Tell a crew member. Flight attendants deal with nervous passengers constantly and can reassure you when something feels off.
• Consider a fear-of-flying course. Many airlines and psychologists run programmes with strong success rates for people whose fear stops them travelling.

What the Future Holds for Flight Safety

The FAA’s NextGen system delivered $12.3 billion in benefits in 2024, including the reduction of delays and the improvement of real-time tracking². Innovations like SmartRunway, deployed by Southwest Airlines on its Boeing 737 fleet, give pilots real-time alerts during critical phases of flight¹⁴.

Then, there are predictive maintenance algorithms that detect equipment wear before it becomes dangerous. AI now monitors thousands of sensor inputs per second, identifying anomalies that could indicate mechanical failure¹⁵. Another development is bio-inspired wing technology to reduce drag and enhance flight stability¹⁶.

And these advancements are helping flight be a little greener. BETA Technologies managed the first electric-powered passenger flight in the United States in June 2025. The ALIA aircraft flew four passengers from East Hampton to JFK using just $8 in electricity¹⁷. Also, urban air mobility pilots by Joby Aviation have launched in New York, adding another safe, efficient transport mode¹⁸.

These changes are all about reducing risk, increasing safety, and transforming flying into an even more secure experience. 

Final Thoughts

So even after the tragic events of 2024 and 2025, flying is still one of the safest ways to travel. For every heartbreaking headline, there are millions of quiet, expertly managed flights that never make the news. The constant commitment to safety by aviation professionals, regulators, and engineers ensures that your next flight is built on layers upon layers of protection.

Frequently Asked Questions

How safe is flying in a plane?

Flying is the safest form of long-distance travel. In 2025, there were just 8 fatal accidents across 38.7 million commercial flights, an all-accident rate of 1.32 per million flights, according to IATA¹.

How safe is flying compared to driving?

Far safer. Measured per mile travelled, U.S. data for 2023 shows about 0.003 air-travel deaths per 100 million passenger miles versus 0.53 for cars, making driving roughly 180 times more dangerous. The National Safety Council rates the lifetime odds of dying as an airline passenger as too small to calculate, against about 1 in 95 for a car crash.

Is turbulence dangerous?

Very rarely. No U.S. airliner has been lost to turbulence in decades, and aircraft are built to withstand far more than passengers ever feel. The few serious turbulence injuries each year mostly involve people who were not wearing a seatbelt, so keeping yours fastened whenever you are seated removes almost all of the risk.

What is the most dangerous part of flying?

Statistically, it is the drive to the airport. On the flight itself, takeoff, initial climb, approach, and landing account for most of the very few accidents that do occur, which is why crews are most focused during those phases. Even so, most aviation accidents are survivable.

What are my rights if my flight is delayed or cancelled for safety reasons?

A safety-related delay is a good sign, but you may still have passenger rights. Under EU and UK rules you can be entitled to care at the airport and, in some cases, financial compensation. Learn more about flight delay compensation, cancelled flight compensation, and your rights under EU 261.

Author:

Joanna Teljeur

Job/Position: Senior Editor & Content Lead

Joanna Teljeur is a senior editor and writer with 15+ years of experience in editorial leadership, journalism, and content development, specialising in consumer rights, aviation law, and public-interest reporting. Her work focuses on transforming complex regulatory and legal topics into clear, accurate, and accessible content for international audiences.

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