Two Air Crashes in Florida in One Week: Is Flying Less Safe?

Two air crashes that left nine people dead were linked to Florida within just a few days, once again raising questions about aviation safety in the United States.

The first occurred on Sunday, September 6, at Miami International Airport. Flight 7598, a 21 Air Boeing 767-300 freighter operating for Amazon Prime Air, overran the runway while landing after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The aircraft went beyond the airport perimeter and struck vehicles in the area. Five people on the ground were killed and five others were injured. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the crash.

Initial information recovered from the aircraft’s recorders shows that one of the pilots repeatedly warned that they were coming in too fast. The Boeing touched down and, seconds later, the crew initiated what the recordings indicate was an attempted go-around, a maneuver used to abort a landing and take off again. The aircraft ultimately ran off the paved surface. The information remains preliminary, and the NTSB has not yet determined the cause of the crash.

Another tragedy on the way to Miami

Just one day later, another tragedy hit a Florida family. A Piper PA-34 carrying four members of a Miami family disappeared while returning from Great Harbour Cay in the Bahamas to Miami Executive Airport.

On board were 80-year-old Mario Lamar, who was piloting the aircraft; his wife, 79-year-old Lili Lamar; and their grandchildren, 28-year-old Sofi Sosa and 22-year-old Christian Sosa.

Air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft approximately 13 miles west of Andros Island. Bahamian authorities requested assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard, and a search operation was launched, initially hampered by poor weather conditions.

The bodies of all four family members were later recovered. The family had been returning to Miami after spending the holiday weekend in the Bahamas.

Is the U.S. seeing more air crashes?

The timing of the two tragedies can create the impression that something is going wrong with aviation in the United States. But the statistics require separating two very different sectors of aviation.

The Boeing 767 involved in the Miami crash was conducting a commercial cargo operation under Part 121 regulations. The aircraft that disappeared near the Bahamas was a small private plane.

The NTSB tracks these operations in separate categories because their aircraft, flight volumes, training requirements, operating environments and exposure to risk are different.

And when the long-term trend in general aviation — which includes many privately operated small aircraft — is examined, the numbers challenge the perception of a widespread surge in crashes.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the United States recorded nearly 400 fatal general aviation accidents per year in 1997. By 2024, that number had fallen to fewer than 200.

Preliminary figures for 2025 were even better: the fatal accident rate fell to 0.61 per 100,000 flight hours, and the FAA said the year was on track to record its lowest rate since 1989.

Commercial aviation had an exceptional year in 2025

Commercial aviation presents a different picture.

In 2025, the United States experienced one of its deadliest aviation disasters in decades: the collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which killed 67 people.

That single accident had such a significant impact that the FAA failed to meet its annual target of keeping the commercial aviation fatality rate below 4.4 deaths per 100 million passengers.

The disaster raised serious concerns and prompted reviews of airspace and risk-management issues. But on its own, it does not establish that U.S. commercial aviation as a whole has become less safe.

Determining whether there is an actual trend requires examining several years and millions of flights, rather than a succession of highly publicized accidents.

We also hear about far more incidents

There is another reason it can feel as though something is constantly going wrong with airplanes: aviation incidents are far more visible today.

The FAA regularly publishes information about accidents and emergencies. Its records range from aircraft crashes to commercial flights that return to an airport because of technical problems and land safely.

The NTSB also maintains public databases covering decades of U.S. civil aviation accidents, along with records of recent cases and ongoing investigations.

Flight-tracking apps, pilot communications that quickly spread across social media, passenger videos and digital news outlets can now turn a local aviation emergency into a national story within minutes.

The recent incident involving Delta Flight 2311 is a good example.

The aircraft was flying from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City when it experienced a pressurization problem. Oxygen masks deployed, and the pilots descended approximately 27,000 feet in about 10 minutes before diverting to Las Vegas.

All 174 passengers and six crew members got off the aircraft without injuries.

Headlines about an aircraft dropping thousands of feet in a matter of minutes can sound alarming. But a rapid descent following a loss of cabin pressure is part of established emergency procedures designed to bring an aircraft down to an altitude where occupants can breathe safely.

Aviation crisis or perception?

The Miami and Bahamas crashes are real tragedies, and investigations will have to determine exactly what happened. U.S. aviation authorities are also closely monitoring genuine safety concerns.

But the available statistics do not show a widespread surge in aviation accidents across the United States.

In general aviation, the long-term trend actually shows a substantial decline in fatal crashes. And in commercial aviation, extraordinarily deadly events can significantly affect a single year’s statistics without necessarily signaling a structural deterioration in the safety of the system.

What has changed dramatically is the speed at which every crash, emergency landing, engine problem, pressurization issue or diversion reaches the public.

Two tragedies linked to Florida within just days are reason for concern and scrutiny. But when it comes to determining whether flying in the United States is actually more dangerous today than it used to be, the statistics tell a considerably less alarming story than the headlines.