Every day, more than 45,000 planes take off in the U.S. Most aircraft land without incident, but the minority that don’t can end in tragedy. In 2023, there were more than 1,216 accidents involving civilian aircraft, and 327 people died in these crashes. Many of these crashes involve smaller aircraft, but larger planes aren’t immune from misfortune, as recent disasters involving commercial jets indicate. Almost 90 people have died in airplane crashes in 2025 so far.