Two pilots were killed after an Air Canada Express regional jet collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport late on Sunday.
The fatal incident occurs amidst ongoing scrutiny of aviation safety. While the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported a decrease in runway incursions, with 97 recorded in January this year compared to 133 in the same period last year, concerns persist.
In response to broader safety issues, a bipartisan group of US House lawmakers last month proposed legislation to address 50 aviation safety recommendations. These measures followed a year-long investigation into a January 2025 collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, which resulted in 67 fatalities.
Below are the details of other fatal crashes in recent years.
2025
India
Hundreds of people were killed in June when an Air India plane to London crashed minutes after taking off from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, in the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade. All but one of the 242 people on board were killed, while 19 others on the ground also perished.
United States
A UPS cargo plane crashed in November shortly after taking off from Louisville, Kentucky, killing seven and injuring 11 on the ground.
More than 60 people were killed when an American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on January 29 and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
2024
South Korea
Jeju Air international flight 7C2216 crashed at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29, 2024, killing all 175 passengers andfour of the six crew members in the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil.
Kazakstan
Azerbaijan Airlines international flight J2-8243, an Embraer E190, crashed on December 25 after being diverted from Russia to Kazakhstan, killing 38 people. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said in December the plane was damaged by accidental shooting from the ground in Russia. Moscow has not confirmed this.
Japan
A Japan Airlines (JAL) plane collided with a smaller Coast Guard aircraft on the runway of Tokyo’s Haneda airport on January 2. All 379 people aboard the JAL plane, an Airbus A350-941 flight, escaped the burning airliner. Five of six crew on the smaller aircraft were killed.
2022
China
A China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 crashed into a mountainous region in the southwestern Guangxi region on March 21, 2022, killing all 132 people on board, in China’s deadliest aviation disaster in 28 years.
2020
Iran
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shot down a Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 on Jan. 8, 2020 shortly after it took off from Tehran Airport, killing all 176 people on board. Iran’s civil aviation body blamed a misaligned radar and an error by an air defence operator.
2019
Ethiopia
A Boeing 737-MAX 8 Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed on March 19, 2019 minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa for Nairobi, killing all 157 people on board. Soon after, the Boeing 737 MAX global fleet was grounded over safety concerns.
2018
Indonesia
A Boeing 737 MAX Lion Air plane crashed into the Java Sea soon after taking off from Jakarta on October 29, 2018, killing all 189 people on board.
2014
Malaysia
Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, and was shot down over eastern Ukraine as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces. All 298 passengers on board were killed.
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. The remains of the Boeing 777 and the 239 people have not been found.
