Why I continue to fly, even though it scares me

The decade-by-decade figures show how much safer commercial airline travel has become in the United States.

I’ll admit it: I get some agitation when I fly on a plane. Getting inside that metal tube is where I have rediscovered prayer more than any other place. I was once so afraid of flying that I forced my father to take a train with me down to Miami from New York City. If you’re anything like me, Wednesday night’s horrific crash involving an American Airlines plane and a US Army helicopter that left 67 dead, including 60 passengers, shook you to your core. Indeed, there are definite improvements that should be made to improve airline safety, according to experts interviewed by CNN’s Marnie Hunter and Julia Buckley. But you and I really shouldn’t think twice about flying in the future. Flying on a US commercial airline is one of the safest things you can do, and it’s become incredibly safe the last 40 years. This obviously does nothing to take away from the heartache of Wednesday, but it does offer reassurances for fearful flyers. I’m a stats guy at the end of the day, and what stands out statistically about Wednesday’s tragedy is that it’s the first major crash since 2009. That was the last time more than five people died in a commercial airline accident. Just two passengers on scheduled service were killed on US commercial airline carriers between 2010 and 2024. That was the fewest number on record for a 15-year period since the middle of the 20th century.