11-02-2025
Local aviation experts weigh in on safety of flying
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Local aviation experts say recent airplane catastrophes should not be a cause for concern for travelers.
Gene Olson, the director of airports for the Metropolitan Airport Authority of Peoria, says he believes air travel remains one of the safest modes of transportation.
'If I had a reason to go or put my family on an airliner tomorrow, I would do it. If I needed to go to Washington D.C. and DCA was the most convenient airport, I would go there,' he said, referring to the airport code for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
By comparison, the code for Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport is PIA.
His comments in the wake of last month's collision between a American Eagle flight and a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that resulted in 67 deaths. Two days later, a medical transport jet crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood, killing all six aboard and one person on the ground.
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Melissa Beaver with the Central Illinois Regional Airport shared the same sentiment, that air travel is still one of the safest ways to travel, saying the country has one of the largest and safest air transit systems.
Olson and Beaver both agree the reason airplane crashes are so prominent in the news is the fact they are so rare. Noting that another plane crash just occurred in Alaska this past week, Beaver said the public tends to pay more attention to such incidents because they are so uncommon,.
Airline flying is 'systematic' according to Olson, meaning there are a lot of rules and regulations in place to keep everyone safe.
'If I had an airplane and I wanted to hop in the airplane and go somewhere, and it's just me I am the one deciding if the weather is good enough,' he said. 'But if it's an airline flight, and they're taking a paying passenger along, then all that is proscripted.'
Every airline has an operating handbook that lays out safety guidelines that tell the airline company, based on weather or mechanical conditions, if they can fly or not.
When it comes to the cause of the recent airplane crashes, both stress that it can take months to a year for a cause to be given, as there is a lot of information and evidence the National Transportation Safety Board has to comb through.
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