How are we doing?

For more than a decade, my wife and I have had a standing Wednesday breakfast date. Sometimes another couple joins us.

Last week, Ralf and Thelma sat down with us to break bread. They’re loyal nightly news watchers — local and national, the ABC/NBC/CBS kind.

Thelma brought up a recent story about an engine fire on an airline flight. I hadn’t heard about it until that morning. According to her, the broadcast showed smartphone video from passengers and featured interviews about the trauma of seeing their plane on fire.

After telling the story, Thelma asked: “Why are there so many more crashes? Why does flying seem more dangerous?“

She knows I’m a pilot. We’ve touched on this before. Maybe she just wanted to share what she saw, not hear a lecture. But I did politely push back when she said the number of accidents seemed to be growing.

I didn’t think she was right, but I told her I’d check the data — something I’m sure she wasn’t really looking for.

So I did.

I pulled raw accident numbers from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and tallied them for January through July, 2022–2025. (If you want to check yourself, go to NTSB.gov, click “Search CAROL” on the home page, then “Dashboard” at the top. That’s the Monthly Aviation Dashboard.)

The data

Just as I thought: Accidents are trending down. Not big drops in 2023 or 2024, but 2025 year to date shows a clear decline.

As for the flight that started this conversation — it wasn’t an accident. The crew landed safely and no one was hurt. I searched and found three similar incidents in the past month, each spawning multiple news stories. That’s a big part of the problem.

When the media has dramatic video and frantic passenger interviews, producers hit “roll tape.”

An engine fire on an airliner is news. For those on board, it’s terrifying. But the safer the outcome, the less newsworthy it should be. In these cases: Safe landings, no injuries.

I texted Thelma the next day with the data. She accepted my follow-up with grace.

This isn’t an anti-media column. It’s a pro-data column. A single data point can make a news story — and an opinion — better informed.

So, how are we doing? According to the numbers, better than in years past. But we can always do better.