Recent Incidents and Near Misses Involving Aircraft

NEW YORK – A small plane crashed in New York last weekend, tragically claiming the lives of all six individuals on board. Among the victims were a physician couple, their accomplished children, and their partners, who were on a family trip to the Catskills.

It’s the latest in a series of aviation disasters at a time of heightened scrutiny of aircraft collisions and near-misses.

One of the most fatal incidents prior to this crash was a collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter over the Potomac River, which resulted in the deaths of 67 individuals in January. Subsequent incidents in February and March involved an airliner clipping another plane while taxiing in Seattle and an American Airlines aircraft catching fire after landing in Denver, respectively.

Despite these recent events, federal officials emphasize that air travel remains the safest mode of transportation, supported by statistical data. However, the prevalence of negative headlines detailing aviation mishaps has led to growing concerns among travelers, coinciding with reduced confidence in air travel and budget cuts at the Federal Aviation Administration as part of President Donald Trump’s initiatives to streamline the federal government.

Here is a look at some of the recent aircraft tragedies and mishaps:

Fatal crashes

— The twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B went down shortly after noon Saturday in a muddy field in Copake, New York, near the Massachusetts line, shortly after the pilot radioed air traffic control at Columbia County Airport to say he had missed the initial approach and requested a new landing plan.

— Six people were killed this month when a sightseeing helicopter broke apart and crashed into the Hudson River. The helicopter lifted off from a New York City heliport, flying north along the Manhattan skyline and then south toward the Statue of Liberty before hitting the water. The pilot was killed along with a family from Spain that was celebrating the ninth birthday of one of their children.

— Three people were killed and one was injured when a small plane crashed Friday morning near an interstate highway and pushed a car onto railroad tracks in Boca Raton, Florida.

— Two small planes collided near an Arizona airport in mid-February. One managed to land uneventfully, but the other hit the ground near a runway and caught fire, killing two people at Marana Regional Airport near Tucson.

— A small commuter plane crashed in western Alaska in early February, killing all 10 people on board. The crash was one of the deadliest in the state in 25 years. Radar data indicated that the plane rapidly lost elevation after an air traffic controller told it to slow down in icy weather so the runway at their destination could be de-iced.

— A medical transport plane plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood after taking off in January, killing all six people on board and one person on the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board said its cockpit voice recorder likely hadn’t been functioning for years. The crew made no distress calls to air traffic control.

— The collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter above the nation’s capital killed everyone aboard both aircraft in late January. It was the deadliest plane crash in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed into a New York City neighborhood just after takeoff, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.

— A jetliner operated by Jeju Air skidded off a runway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames in December after its landing gear apparently failed to deploy, killing all but two of the 181 people aboard in one of South Korea’s worst aviation disasters.

Incidents with injuries

— The American Airlines plane that caught fire at Denver International Airport in March had been diverted there because the crew reported engine vibrations. While taxiing to the gate, an engine caught fire, prompting slides to be deployed so that passengers could evacuate quickly. The people taken to hospitals had minor injuries.

— A single-engine plane carrying five people crashed and burst into flames in the parking lot of a retirement community near a small airport outside Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in March. Everyone on board survived. Three people were taken to a burn center.

— A Delta Air Lines jet flipped over while landing at Toronto’s Pearson Airport in February. All 80 people on board survived, but some people received minor injuries. Witnesses and video from the scene showed the plane landing so hard that its right wing was sheared off. Investigators were examining the weather conditions and the possibility of human error.

Close calls

— In April, on the same day as the fatal New York helicopter crash, a wing tip of an American Airlines plane struck another plane from the same airline on a taxiway of the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. There were no reported injuries. Multiple members of Congress were aboard one of the flights.

— A FedEx cargo plane made an emergency landing at a busy New Jersey airport in March after a bird strike caused an engine fire that could be seen in the morning sky. The plane landed at Newark Liberty International Airport. There were no reported injuries.

— Pilots on a Southwest Airlines flight about to land at Chicago’s Midway Airport were forced to climb back into the sky to avoid another aircraft crossing the runway in February. Video showed the plane approaching the runway before it abruptly pulled up as a business jet taxied onto the runway without authorization, federal officials said.

— In February, a Japan Airlines plane was taxiing on the tarmac of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when it apparently clipped the tail of a parked Delta plane. There were no injuries reported.

— In January, passengers panicked when a man aboard a JetBlue plane that was taxiing for takeoff from Boston’s Logan International Airport opened an exit door over a wing, trigging an emergency slide to inflate. Other passengers quickly restrained the man and the plane didn’t take off.