‘Flying is the safest way to travel': CLT passengers not worried after high-profile plane crashes
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Wednesday's crash between two small planes in Arizona comes just days after another aircraft flipped while landing at a Toronto airport and three weeks after the deadly Washington, D.C., midair collision.
Each incident has different circumstances — but what is the impact on passengers' air travel anxiety?
Founder of Fearless Flying and former airline pilot Ron Nielsen believes the safest way to travel is still through the air. He helps people get through their anxiety about flying.
Since the Jan. 29 Washington, D.C., crash that killed 67 people, he's been preparing for clients who may have a renewed fear of the skies.
'I tell them to try to imagine a day the day before the first crash, you got your attention,' Nielsen said. 'Maybe the one in Washington, D.C. Try to imagine that day getting on an airplane. Will you avoid any of the concerns other than even if you were anxious about flying, you'd have the standard ones.'
According to the National Safety Transportation Board, there have been 13 fatal plane crashes reported in 2025; 81 were non-fatal. Between 2020 and 2024, officials reported just under 1,500 fatal crashes and less than 5,800 non-fatal crashes, peaking with 1,540 combined in 2022.
Perry Harrold is a frequent flyer and says he doesn't have any worries when he buckles in.
'I know there are a great number of flights in the air every day,' Harrold said. 'So, this recent spate of crashes, it's just something that happens. But I don't think anything significant about that.'
Have there been more plane crashes this year?
Sixty-four percent of adults agree with Harrold that plane travel is safe or somewhat safe according to a recent survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center. But last year, that number was at 71 percent.
The survey also showed that 2-in-10 people feel that it's somewhat not safe anymore after the Jan. 29 crash. The recent Toronto and Arizona incidents did have Shauib Mecham a little worried.
'I was thinking about those, especially as we were landing, I was like I don't know what's going to happen,' Mecham said.
Nielsen advises his clients to journal with their non-dominant hand, breathe through a straw if feeling anxious, and use distant self-talk to calm down before and during the flight.
Nielsen emphasizes that flying is still the safest way to travel.
'The worst thing they're going to do today is probably get in their car and drive somewhere,' Nielsen said. 'So try to keep that perspective.'
Nielsen also encourages flyers to get the facts from aviation safety officials to keep their anxiety and stress levels down.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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