If you've been paying attention to the news lately, it seems like there's an airplane accident every day.

This hits close to home for me because I sometimes work out at the gym in Philadelphia where the plane crash just happened. That could've been me.

A few weeks back, during my trip to Boston, I found myself wondering on the plane: should I travel less this year?

For someone like me who loves to travel a lot, that's a big question.

But, being naturally skeptical, I went to the source and looked at the numbers. I checked all the plane accidents by year and found something surprising.

In 2025, we're on track to have fewer plane crashes than in previous years.

https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/data/Pages/monthly-dashboard.aspx

Looking deeper, I also found there were fewer fatalities in 2025 than in the last couple of years.

So how does this make sense?

There's a term in statistics called availability bias. According to A.I. (I find it entertaining to cite A.I. instead of the actual source), availability bias is "where people overestimate the likelihood of events based on how easily they can recall similar instances."

This means that if something comes to mind quickly—like a recent plane crash or news story—people tend to believe it happens more often than it actually does.

Therefore, when we see more plane crashes on the news, we think that more plane crashes are happening because these events are at the top of our minds.

As you can see, the media has a big impact on availability bias. 

Looking at the data, if the media wanted to, they could report a new airplane accident every day and still have more left over.

Which probably leads to your next question: Why would the media do such a thing?

You mean "Why would the media want people to live in a constant state of fear?"

I'm just a travel blogger. You probably know better than me, my friend. 😉

Moral of the story: Don't believe the hype and keep traveling — I know I will.

P.S. Remember that the most dangerous part of air travel is actually driving to the airport.

Keep traveling, 

Andrew

Has the recent news about plane crashes made you consider traveling less this year?