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Forbes
27-05-2025
- General
- Forbes
Worried About Flying: Here Are 9 Expert Suggestions For This Summer
Aviation safety experts say passengers can minimize the risk when flying this summer by being strategic when selecting airports, seats, planes and departure times. A string of recent alarming incidents—from military helicopters interfering with the flow of commercial jets at Reagan National in Washington, D.C. to equipment outages causing air traffic controllers to lose contact with planes at Newark Liberty International Airport and others nationwide—have made travelers jittery as summer approaches. Forbes spoke to four aviation safety experts who offered advice for minimizing risk exposure and reducing the likelihood of flight disruptions this summer. Decisions within a passenger's control include the strategic selection of airports, seats, planes and departure times. 'When we know there's a problem someplace, I simply avoid that airport,' Mary Schiavo, former inspector general of the Department of Transportation, told Forbes. 'So I'm not flying into DCA (Reagan National) or Newark, no way—and if I hear the problems persist at Houston or Denver, for example, then I'll take them off the list, too.' John Cox, aviation safety expert and retired commercial airline pilot, also recommended avoiding Newark for now. 'Think about maybe utilizing LaGuardia or Kennedy or Philly or White Plains and not be dependent on an airport that's experiencing the kind of delays that Newark has,' he said. These days, many travelers are making similar calculations, including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's wife. The average number of travelers flying out of Newark has dropped by as much as 20% compared to this time last year, according to Transportation Security Administration data reviewed by NBC News. Connecting flights might be cheaper, but direct flights are safer. 'You decrease your exposure to anything bad happening by going with a nonstop flight, as opposed to a connecting flight, where now you've got two flights you've got to worry about in terms of not only safety, but delays and cancellations,' Jeff Guzzetti, a retired aircraft accident investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), told Forbes. 'If you're looking at statistics, taking a nonstop flight cuts your risk in half, because the riskiest times of any flight are takeoffs and landings,' Schiavo said. Many travelers default to major hubs—but some of the nation's busiest airports have been experiencing the worst air traffic issues, including technology outages and staffing shortages. 'Because of the volume of traffic, the hubs will tend to hang up,' Cox said. Luckily, said Schiavo, travelers have many other options. 'We have over 500 towered airports in this country, and I would definitely recommend that people start to look at those secondary airports, where there's less congestion,' she said, adding, 'I have to go to Ohio a lot and I fly into Akron-Canton. That's not my destination, but it's a beautiful little airport, and I'm out of that airport in five minutes.' Instead of flying into Reagan National, Schiavo is choosing Dulles these days, 'even if it means I take a long cab or Uber ride into DC.' 'Commercial airline crashes are extremely rare but, even then, most people don't realize that airline crashes are almost always survivable,' Guzzetti said, citing NTSB statistics showing 81% of commercial airline passengers survive most accidents. He pointed out the Delta plane that flipped and caught fire after a hard landing in Toronto in February, saying, 'The airplane was trashed, but everyone walked away.' He stresses the key factor is being able to evacuate the plane quickly. 'When you look at the statistics, you want to increase your chances of survivability. I always choose my own seat, either in the emergency exit or very close to it,' he said. For the same reason, Guzzetti avoids wearing sandals and flip-flops as a precaution. 'If I had to get out of the plane very quickly, I could do it.' When flight shopping, consider more than price and departure time. Whether booking directly from the airline or through a third-party platform, pay attention to the type of plane you'll be flying in, which you can typically see with an extra click. 'I usually pick larger airplanes if I have the option,' Guzzetti said. 'In other words, wide-body like a [Boeing] 777 or 787, as opposed to a regional jet, just because it's larger, it's more comfortable, and usually larger airplanes have more sophisticated safety systems.' Two relatively new commercial airlines that launched during the Covid pandemic offer nonstop service between many popular U.S. destinations. Breeze Airways offers direct service on more than 600 U.S. routes and Avelo Airlines connects roughly four dozen U.S. destinations. 'These nonstop flights cut down on congestion, cut down on passenger angst, and use some of these less-crowded airports,' Schiavo said. 'Flights that go out earlier in the day are less likely to hang up, and that's particularly true in the summertime,' Cox said. It's important to understand that storms in one region of the country can quickly turn into a national air travel problem. Afternoon and evening flights tend to be delayed more often than morning departures because airlines reuse planes and crews for multiple trips during the day, so a delay early in the day creates a domino effect later on. 'Afternoon flights have more issues. That's borne out by statistics,' added Schiavo. Having a heads-up that your flight will be delayed has big advantages—especially if you know before everyone else on the flight. 'There's an app called Flighty that tells you a lot,' Cox said. 'Where is the airplane that's going to fly my flight? How late is it?' If your plane is delayed on an earlier flight, it will most likely be delayed for your flight, too. Having that kind of information lets you be proactive about making necessary changes. 'Passengers should download their airline app to get real time updates on delays or gate changes,' said Chadwin Kendall, an associate professor and FAA chief instructor in the Department of Aviation and Aerospace Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver. 'Many of those apps allow you to rebook via the app directly if there is a cancellation, instead of having to go and talk to a gate agent.' FAA data show that, for many U.S. airports, summer weather is responsible for far more delays than winter weather. By consulting the FAA's flight delay map, flyers can see which airports are having issues in real time. Hover over the airport to see the reason for the delay. 'The main mission of air traffic controllers is to keep airplanes separated,' explained Kendall. When an airport becomes too congested for air traffic control to handle, or if there is another issue, like bad weather or runway construction, the FAA may issue a ground delay, which slows the flow of arrivals into that airport until the airspace is less congested. 'Often, the safest thing is just to leave the airplane on the ground [at its origin airport].' Trump Has Blamed Biden For FAA's Failures—But A Key 'Terrible Idea' Happened On His Watch (Forbes)
CNN
09-05-2025
- General
- CNN
Newark Airport flight delays: Internal FAA report downplayed risks of data outage affecting air traffic controllers
Before the FAA moved air traffic controllers who oversee the Newark Liberty International Airport airspace to a new site in Philadelphia last year, the agency's experts concluded the odds of a dangerous communications breakdown were extremely unlikely: 1 in 11 million, according to an internal report obtained by CNN. In reality, the safety concerns officials downplayed appear to have occurred multiple times since the new system went into place last summer, according to multiple controllers. Data outages – including a failure of about 90 seconds of radar and radio service last week – have repeatedly left controllers without the ability to see the locations of planes they were tracking. The problems led to several controllers taking trauma leave from work and sparked the massive flight delays and cancellations that have roiled Newark over the last week and a half. Yet a 2022 FAA report about the relocation concluded that despite the 'major' severity of a potential data outage, there was only 'medium' overall risk because the chance of it happening was 'extremely remote.' Aviation experts told CNN that the conclusions in that report – as well as another report from 2024 that evaluated risks of air traffic controllers in two different locations struggling to coordinate – should raise questions about the agency's safety analysis. Mary Schiavo, who served as inspector general of the Department of Transportation during the '90s and reviewed the reports for CNN, said she thought the conclusion on the likelihood of the data feed failure was 'outrageous and terrifying.' 'There was the added risk because they were creating a Frankenstein patchwork' of multiple data systems, Schiavo said. While the report found that failures of the radar data transmission 'would be a major hazard,' the reviewers appeared to be 'downplaying it because they didn't think it would happen,' she said. An FAA spokesperson did not respond to questions about the safety reviews but said in a statement that the agency 'applies our standard safety risk management methodology when we implement new equipment, operations, and procedures; when we make changes to them; and when a safety issue is identified in the system.' A spokesperson for the air traffic controllers union, NATCA, which had several members participate in the safety review process, declined to comment. The 'Safety Risk Management' reports were conducted as the FAA planned to relocate air traffic controllers overseeing planes headed to and from Newark. For decades, they had worked alongside other controllers who covered the approach to John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports from a facility on Long Island. But in response to staffing and training issues at that site, the FAA moved about two dozen controllers to a new facility in Philadelphia in July 2024. The 2022 study, which was conducted by a panel of 11 FAA experts and representatives from the union, evaluated the technological challenges of that move. According to the report, radar data on planes headed to and from Newark would be transmitted from the Long Island facility to the new location in Philadelphia via eight commercial telecommunications infrastructure lines. A FAA spokesperson did not respond to a question about whether all eight lines were actually installed and are currently active. In the 2022 study, panel members identified 'loss of telecommunications lines' between Long Island and Philadelphia and the resulting 'loss of automation services and surveillance support' as a potential hazard. They decided that an outage would have a 'major' severity, as controllers 'would have insufficient means to surveil aircraft' and be hindered in their 'ability to continue to vector aircraft safely.' To determine the likelihood of such a loss in telecommunications, the panel members reviewed information about previous 'full facility outages' at US airports. They concluded that from May 2018 to December 2021, there had only been one full outage at 35 major airports around the country – a failure lasting six minutes at JFK airport. As a result, they calculated that the likelihood of an outage in the Long Island to Philadelphia data lines was about 1 in 11 million – an 'extremely remote' chance that allowed them to classify the risk of telecommunications lines being lost as 'medium.' The report required the FAA also install additional hardware that could transmit radar data directly from Newark airport to the Philadelphia location, so it could still work even if there was an outage at the Long Island facility. With that change, the panel voted to downgrade the 'residual risk' of the problem to 'low.' The cause of the outages that Newark controllers have experienced over the past year has not been publicly confirmed by FAA officials. But aviation experts said that the issues flagged by controllers in recent months raised questions about the validity of the 2022 report's conclusions. Timothy Johnson Sr., an assistant professor of aviation at Hampton University and a former air traffic controller and training manager for the US Air Force, said that the idea that there was only a remote chance of an outage seemed to be 'out of step with operational reality.' 'While it may reflect past outage data in a general sense, it doesn't account for the complexity, volume, and interaction density' associated with the unique Long Island-to-Philadelphia system, he said. 'Risk isn't just about how often something happens, it's also about how severe the consequences would be if it does … In my view, that probability estimate was used to justify inaction rather than drive preemptive safeguards.' Schiavo, the former DOT inspector general, agreed and argued the data analysis was conducted in a way to justify the 'extremely remote' chance of an outage and 'to put a number on something so they could ignore the risk.' Given how controllers losing radar service could potentially lead to a catastrophe, she said the panel should have weighed that possible hazard more heavily than the likelihood of it occurring. 'They listed out all these things that could happen, including losing radar,' she said. 'That's exactly what happened.' A person familiar with the FAA's safety risk management process told CNN that 'it's not uncommon to have a medium finding' on risk assessments, adding that it's rare for reviews to conclude a hazard has a 'high' risk. Typically, FAA works to mitigate the 'medium' risks and moves forward, according to the person, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to comment. The report also says that some panel members questioned whether the 'bandwidth' of the system that transfers data from Long Island to Philadelphia 'would be robust enough to support the level of incoming data,' although they did not include that issue as a potential hazard because the system was designed to handle it. The FAA said in a statement Wednesday that to address issues at Newark, the agency planned to install three new high-bandwidth telecommunications connections between Long Island and Philadelphia to 'provide more speed, reliability and redundancy,' and replace 'copper telecommunications connections with updated fiberoptic technology that also have greater bandwidth and speed.' The 2022 report did not mention the use of copper or fiber technology. The 2024 safety report, which was finalized just days before the move took place in late July, covers the procedures for controllers in Long Island overseeing the approach to LaGuardia and JFK to work with the Newark approach controllers in Philadelphia. The report identified several potential hazards with the arrangement, including 'reduction in situational awareness' and 'operational personnel confusion/misunderstanding,' largely because controllers were used to working in the same room but would now have to communicate over landlines. 'This relationship has historically relied on in-person/immediate communication,' the report stated, adding that some controllers were concerned 'that efficiency would suffer should in-person interaction be removed, and the time delay may have an impact on safety.' The panel concluded that the risk would be reduced because there would be 'shout lines' that allow controllers in the two locations to communicate with each other more quickly than through landline calls. The report states that 'Tech Ops conducted four live tests to ensure that (Philadelphia) had sufficient communication with' the Long Island facility. The review concluded that the risks were 'medium' level and could be partially mitigated by additional training of controllers. However, reports filed by several controllers in the weeks after the shift to Philadelphia show that some of the personnel confusion issues identified in the study apparently did happen. A half-dozen controllers filed confidential reports outlining problems with coordination between the two locations, CNN reported this week. The controllers' union, NATCA, which opposed the move to Philadelphia, filed a letter of dissent on the 2024 report, arguing that the study hadn't been thorough enough and that the FAA hadn't provided the union enough time to review its plan. 'The failures of the FAA and the rush to complete' the review did not allow the panel to effectively evaluate the change, the letter argued. The person familiar with the FAA's safety risk management process confirmed that the 2022 and 2024 reports obtained by CNN were final versions. The agency also conducted two other safety reports on the Philadelphia move in 2021, related to airspace realignment and training waivers, which CNN has not reviewed. Schiavo said the potential dangers outlined in the reports help explain the nightmare scenario that unfolded last week when controllers lost radio and radar. 'It's terrifying what happened,' she said, 'but when you read these documents, you understand that they created a mishmash of a system that really wasn't tested (and) hadn't been done this way before.'
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Yahoo
How deadly has air travel been in 2025? Here is what to know
A commercial plane and an Army helicopter collided, a regional jet rolled over on landing and a family of five was killed after a helicopter plunged into the Hudson River – all three incidents from the first part of this year add to the anxieties of the flying public. The crashes are among more than a hundred incidents this year, involving everything from commercial airliners to smaller, so-called general aviation aircraft often flown by private pilots. And it's only April. Air carriers even reported a drop in ticket sales following the string of high-profile incidents, as customers reported a fear of flying. That begs the question: Has this year been one of the most dangerous years to fly? Reports analyzed by CNN from the National Transportation Safety Board show the number of accident investigations is down for the first quarter of 2025. The NTSB led 171 civil aviation investigations from January to March 2025, which include commercial, general, rotorcraft and specialized aircraft. During the same time frame last year, there were 185 investigations. And the first three months of 2010 to 2019 averaged 215 investigations. CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo attributes the public's perception of declining aviation safety to the moments caught on video that 'rattle everybody.' She points to January's midair collision between a US Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, caught on surveillance camera, as a prime example that struck fear in the public. 'The arrogance of flying through commercial air space without the proper equipment turned on or functioning,' Schiavo said. 'I mean, that's just arrogance beyond belief. In aviation, there's just no room for arrogance.' The helicopter was flying without using a tracking system called ADS-B. 'I think this year is bad, even more, other than DCA, because of all the things that have come to light. Without the NTSB, would we have ever known about the 15,000 near misses,' she said, referring to the 15,214 near miss events the board uncovered from 2021 and 2024, where aircraft were within one nautical mile of colliding at Reagan National Airport. 'That's shocking - we wouldn't have known about that.' Proof in the data As inspector general of the US Department of Transportation from 1990 to 1996, Schiavo worked with both sides of the aisle and the FAA closely. Back then, she explained, accident, incident and pilot deviation rates were publicly available information, even broken down further by the standards for each type of operator. 'Now, (The FAA) stopped doing those, at least publicly, and they said, 'Look, there are so few commercial accidents that when one accident happens, one fatal accident, it really skews the data,'' she noted. CNN reached out to the FAA for comment, but the agency pointed to its databases online. Many public officials have been vocal about how aviation remains the safest form of travel, despite the recent string of events. Up until the fatal incident in January, there hadn't been a major commercial air crash in the country since a flight operated by Colgan Air stalled and crashed into a house on approach to Buffalo, New York, in 2009. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines flight crashed at San Francisco International Airport and killed three people, but 287 people escaped alive. There have been other flights globally that have killed Americans, but no major fatal incidents in the US have occurred since then. But Schiavo says more needs to be done. 'They've never defined what the level of safety is to be safe,' she said. The FAA needs to develop 'an objective standard' for what safe means, she said, noting that the agency needs quantifiable safety measurements for the public to understand how it defines safe. Passenger vehicle incidents have remained the deadliest mode of transportation, statistically speaking. There were about 40,000 people killed motor vehicle crashes in the US in 2023, according to the latest numbers from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Critical to distinguish Although there are many incidents that have occurred this year, Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, said it's important for passengers to distinguish the small aviation incidents from the major commercial airline accidents. Besides the crash at Reagan National Airport in January, there was also a Delta Air Lines regional jet that rolled over while landing in Toronto. All the passengers and crew survived; however, it was a significant event currently being investigated by Canada's Transportation Safety Board. Those are notably different accidents from the sightseeing helicopter, which crashed into the Hudson River, killing a family of five, the med-evac jet, which crashed into a neighborhood in Philadelphia killing everyone onboard, and one person on the ground, or a small airplane midair collision in Arizona that killed two. 'These are different categories and different issues,' Shahidi said. 'I wouldn't put them all in the same bucket from our perspective. Helicopter operations are unique, different equipment, and things like that, so they need to be looked at differently than passenger accidents.' The NTSB investigations into all of this year's crashes remain ongoing, however, the FAA stopped most helicopter flights near Washington Reagan National and after last week's crash in the Hudson, the tour company's operations were halted immediately. However, Shahidi said every single accident in commercial aviation is unique. Despite the deadly incidents, the year has been relatively like past years. 'Anytime something like (the helicopter accident) happens, and you have a family, the victims, it really resonates with everybody. How could this happen? It's very unfortunate,' he said.
CNN
16-04-2025
- CNN
How deadly has air travel been in 2025? Here is what to know
A commercial plane and an Army helicopter collided, a regional jet rolled over on landing and a family of five was killed after a helicopter plunged into the Hudson River – all three incidents from the first part of this year add to the anxieties of the flying public. The crashes are among more than a hundred incidents this year, involving everything from commercial airliners to smaller, so-called general aviation aircraft often flown by private pilots. And it's only April. Air carriers even reported a drop in ticket sales following the string of high-profile incidents, as customers reported a fear of flying. That begs the question: Has this year been one of the most dangerous years to fly? Reports analyzed by CNN from the National Transportation Safety Board show the number of accident investigations is down for the first quarter of 2025. The NTSB led 171 civil aviation investigations from January to March 2025, which include commercial, general, rotorcraft and specialized aircraft. During the same time frame last year, there were 185 investigations. And the first three months of 2010 to 2019 averaged 215 investigations. CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo attributes the public's perception of declining aviation safety to the moments caught on video that 'rattle everybody.' She points to January's midair collision between a US Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, caught on surveillance camera, as a prime example that struck fear in the public. 'The arrogance of flying through commercial air space without the proper equipment turned on or functioning,' Schiavo said. 'I mean, that's just arrogance beyond belief. In aviation, there's just no room for arrogance.' The helicopter was flying without using a tracking system called ADS-B. 'I think this year is bad, even more, other than DCA, because of all the things that have come to light. Without the NTSB, would we have ever known about the 15,000 near misses,' she said, referring to the 15,214 near miss events the board uncovered from 2021 and 2024, where aircraft were within one nautical mile of colliding at Reagan National Airport. 'That's shocking - we wouldn't have known about that.' Proof in the data As inspector general of the US Department of Transportation from 1990 to 1996, Schiavo worked with both sides of the aisle and the FAA closely. Back then, she explained, accident, incident and pilot deviation rates were publicly available information, even broken down further by the standards for each type of operator. 'Now, (The FAA) stopped doing those, at least publicly, and they said, 'Look, there are so few commercial accidents that when one accident happens, one fatal accident, it really skews the data,'' she noted. CNN reached out to the FAA for comment, but the agency pointed to its databases online. Many public officials have been vocal about how aviation remains the safest form of travel, despite the recent string of events. Up until the fatal incident in January, there hadn't been a major commercial air crash in the country since a flight operated by Colgan Air stalled and crashed into a house on approach to Buffalo, New York, in 2009. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines flight crashed at San Francisco International Airport and killed three people, but 287 people escaped alive. There have been other flights globally that have killed Americans, but no major fatal incidents in the US have occurred since then. But Schiavo says more needs to be done. 'They've never defined what the level of safety is to be safe,' she said. The FAA needs to develop 'an objective standard' for what safe means, she said, noting that the agency needs quantifiable safety measurements for the public to understand how it defines safe. Passenger vehicle incidents have remained the deadliest mode of transportation, statistically speaking. There were about 40,000 people killed motor vehicle crashes in the US in 2023, according to the latest numbers from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Critical to distinguish Although there are many incidents that have occurred this year, Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, said it's important for passengers to distinguish the small aviation incidents from the major commercial airline accidents. Besides the crash at Reagan National Airport in January, there was also a Delta Air Lines regional jet that rolled over while landing in Toronto. All the passengers and crew survived; however, it was a significant event currently being investigated by Canada's Transportation Safety Board. Those are notably different accidents from the sightseeing helicopter, which crashed into the Hudson River, killing a family of five, the med-evac jet, which crashed into a neighborhood in Philadelphia killing everyone onboard, and one person on the ground, or a small airplane midair collision in Arizona that killed two. 'These are different categories and different issues,' Shahidi said. 'I wouldn't put them all in the same bucket from our perspective. Helicopter operations are unique, different equipment, and things like that, so they need to be looked at differently than passenger accidents.' The NTSB investigations into all of this year's crashes remain ongoing, however, the FAA stopped most helicopter flights near Washington Reagan National and after last week's crash in the Hudson, the tour company's operations were halted immediately. However, Shahidi said every single accident in commercial aviation is unique. Despite the deadly incidents, the year has been relatively like past years. 'Anytime something like (the helicopter accident) happens, and you have a family, the victims, it really resonates with everybody. How could this happen? It's very unfortunate,' he said.
CNN
16-04-2025
- CNN
How deadly has air travel been in 2025? Here is what to know
A commercial plane and an Army helicopter collided, a regional jet rolled over on landing and a family of five was killed after a helicopter plunged into the Hudson River – all three incidents from the first part of this year add to the anxieties of the flying public. The crashes are among more than a hundred incidents this year, involving everything from commercial airliners to smaller, so-called general aviation aircraft often flown by private pilots. And it's only April. Air carriers even reported a drop in ticket sales following the string of high-profile incidents, as customers reported a fear of flying. That begs the question: Has this year been one of the most dangerous years to fly? Reports analyzed by CNN from the National Transportation Safety Board show the number of accident investigations is down for the first quarter of 2025. The NTSB led 171 civil aviation investigations from January to March 2025, which include commercial, general, rotorcraft and specialized aircraft. During the same time frame last year, there were 185 investigations. And the first three months of 2010 to 2019 averaged 215 investigations. CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo attributes the public's perception of declining aviation safety to the moments caught on video that 'rattle everybody.' She points to January's midair collision between a US Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, caught on surveillance camera, as a prime example that struck fear in the public. 'The arrogance of flying through commercial air space without the proper equipment turned on or functioning,' Schiavo said. 'I mean, that's just arrogance beyond belief. In aviation, there's just no room for arrogance.' The helicopter was flying without using a tracking system called ADS-B. 'I think this year is bad, even more, other than DCA, because of all the things that have come to light. Without the NTSB, would we have ever known about the 15,000 near misses,' she said, referring to the 15,214 near miss events the board uncovered from 2021 and 2024, where aircraft were within one nautical mile of colliding at Reagan National Airport. 'That's shocking - we wouldn't have known about that.' Proof in the data As inspector general of the US Department of Transportation from 1990 to 1996, Schiavo worked with both sides of the aisle and the FAA closely. Back then, she explained, accident, incident and pilot deviation rates were publicly available information, even broken down further by the standards for each type of operator. 'Now, (The FAA) stopped doing those, at least publicly, and they said, 'Look, there are so few commercial accidents that when one accident happens, one fatal accident, it really skews the data,'' she noted. CNN reached out to the FAA for comment, but the agency pointed to its databases online. Many public officials have been vocal about how aviation remains the safest form of travel, despite the recent string of events. Up until the fatal incident in January, there hadn't been a major commercial air crash in the country since a flight operated by Colgan Air stalled and crashed into a house on approach to Buffalo, New York, in 2009. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines flight crashed at San Francisco International Airport and killed three people, but 287 people escaped alive. There have been other flights globally that have killed Americans, but no major fatal incidents in the US have occurred since then. But Schiavo says more needs to be done. 'They've never defined what the level of safety is to be safe,' she said. The FAA needs to develop 'an objective standard' for what safe means, she said, noting that the agency needs quantifiable safety measurements for the public to understand how it defines safe. Passenger vehicle incidents have remained the deadliest mode of transportation, statistically speaking. There were about 40,000 people killed motor vehicle crashes in the US in 2023, according to the latest numbers from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Critical to distinguish Although there are many incidents that have occurred this year, Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, said it's important for passengers to distinguish the small aviation incidents from the major commercial airline accidents. Besides the crash at Reagan National Airport in January, there was also a Delta Air Lines regional jet that rolled over while landing in Toronto. All the passengers and crew survived; however, it was a significant event currently being investigated by Canada's Transportation Safety Board. Those are notably different accidents from the sightseeing helicopter, which crashed into the Hudson River, killing a family of five, the med-evac jet, which crashed into a neighborhood in Philadelphia killing everyone onboard, and one person on the ground, or a small airplane midair collision in Arizona that killed two. 'These are different categories and different issues,' Shahidi said. 'I wouldn't put them all in the same bucket from our perspective. Helicopter operations are unique, different equipment, and things like that, so they need to be looked at differently than passenger accidents.' The NTSB investigations into all of this year's crashes remain ongoing, however, the FAA stopped most helicopter flights near Washington Reagan National and after last week's crash in the Hudson, the tour company's operations were halted immediately. However, Shahidi said every single accident in commercial aviation is unique. Despite the deadly incidents, the year has been relatively like past years. 'Anytime something like (the helicopter accident) happens, and you have a family, the victims, it really resonates with everybody. How could this happen? It's very unfortunate,' he said.
