Are planes really falling from the sky, or are we just paying more attention?

After a few tragic, high-profile aviation safety incidents this year, travelers are understandably concerned about the safety of flying.

It feels like every day, there’s another story of a plane crash to capture our attention, but is this really a more dangerous time in the sky, or are we just noticing it more?

In just the last week, we saw a fatal crash of a tour helicopter in New York, a small plane that crashed in Florida, and two commercial jets that clipped wings at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Data from the National Transportation Safety Board shows that overall, aviation accidents were down from 2023 to 2024, and so far, 2025 does not seem especially remarkable for the overall number of incidents.

Of course, 2025 also had the first major commercial plane crash in the U.S. in nearly 16 years, but that’s a statistical outlier. Almost all of the recorded incidents involve small, private aircraft, and have little bearing on the travel habits of the general population.

Learn more about the data behind crashes by clicking here.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why not all aviation incidents need to worry travelers