Despite the deadly fires that destroyed thousands of homes in Los Angeles, flights into Los Angeles International (LAX) and Burbank (BUR) continue. As an LA resident, it is awe-inspiring to see and hear the aerial firefighting effort of dozens of aircraft and helicopters, knowing how difficult the jobs of the pilots and air traffic controllers are.

But despite the importance of aviation in our lives, commercial flying has some significant issues.

Last year was the deadliest in commercial aviation in six years.

End-Year Accidents Cause Deaths To More Than Double

Some 318 people died on commercial flights in 2024. This was more than twice as many as the 120 who died in 2023, according to data from the Aviation Safety Network.

This makes 2024 the deadliest year for commercial aviation since 2018, when 557 people died. That total includes 189 from the crash of a Lion Air aircraft in Indonesia, the first Boeing 737 MAX disaster.

In the last week of December, the year 2024 went from being relatively safe to one with hundreds of passenger deaths. While it will take time to determine all the causes, much more attention must be paid to aviation safety and security.

Two accidents in the last week of 2024 accounted for more than two-thirds of the 318 deaths. An Embraer ERJ-190AR operated by Azerbaijan Airlines crashed on December 25 near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of its 69 passengers.

On December 29, a Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air crashed at Muan International Airport in Korea, killing 179. There were just two survivors, crew members seated in the tail. The front of the aircraft was completely destroyed when it hit a concrete structure at the end of the runway. Not only was this the worst accident of this aircraft type in terms of fatalities, but it was also the worst accident in South Korean history.

Both incidents are extremely troubling and demand a full investigation. The Jeju Air crash may have been caused by a bird strike, an electrical failure, or another cause minutes before the crash.

On the other hand, the cause of the Azerbaijan Air crash appears to be already known. The aircraft was hit by a missile.

Missile Nightmare For Airlines

Missile strikes on civilian aircraft is a horrendous trend that must end. The flight appears to have been hit by a Russian missile over Grozdny, perhaps while targeting a nearby drone swarm. Russian President Putin even issued a partial apology.

On December 27, the New York Post published a story “Missiles are the biggest killers of plane passengers,” following the Azerbaijan Airlines attack. The article noted that over ten years, more than 500 passengers had been killed in missile attacks.

A little research showed that this startling number is correct. Just three missile attacks over the last ten years killed 512 people. A strike on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over the disputed Donbas region in 2014 took 298 lives. An “accidental” Iranian shoot-down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 departing Tehran in January 2020 killed 176. And December’s apparent missile hit on Azerbaijan Airlines killed 38 and left the aircraft as mangled wreckage with shrapnel holes.

Vulnerable airliners and today’s highly accurate ground-to-air missiles do not mix.

Terrorists shooting down airliners with “MANPAD” handheld rocket launchers or larger missiles has long been an aviation nightmare. A 2019 RAND study found more than 60 missile attacks on civilian aircraft since 1975, resulting in more than 1000 deaths. Some cargo carriers and VIP aircraft like Airforce One have adopted anti-missile systems.

Although none of these three airliners was deliberately targeted, airliners have presented a tempting terrorist target for more than 50 years.

Stowaways Threaten Airline Safety—And Their Own

A different threat to airline safety became clear in 2024, stowaways. In one incident, a 57-year-old woman evaded TSA security and got onto a Delta flight to Paris sans ticket or boarding pass. She was arrested in Paris, returned to the United States and given home confinement, which she promptly escaped.

Another group of stowaways posed a definite threat to themselves, as well as to passenger safety. In 2024, several individuals somehow gained access to world airports, got on the tarmac, and hid in the wheel wells of commercial aircraft.

Several stowaway flyers died, two when their decomposed bodies were found during a routine inspection of the landing gear of a JetBlue aircraft. Stowaways can be crushed when the landing gear is retracted, fall out when the landing gear is extended, or simply freeze to death at the minus-65F degree temperatures found at 35,000 feet.

Estimates are that up to 80% of those who stowaway in this manner perish. And illegal passengers who stow away in the landing gear or electrical compartments can also do damage to sensitive aircraft systems, threatening the aircraft itself.

Airport Actions Threaten Travelers and Stars

Airports were the site of protests, shutdowns and vandalism in 2024. This raises the question of airport perimeter and access road security. While cameras and patrols help, there is a lot of airport to cover. At LAX, for example, the airport runways range from 8,926 to 12,923 feet in length.

Private jets were a particular target. A pair of protestors sawed open a chain link fence at Stansted Airport in the UK. They then used fire extinguishers to spray-paint a pair of multimillion dollar jets, part of a campaign to Oil. They had been searching for Taylor Swift’s private jet used for her Era Tour, but settled for doing $75,000 worth of damage and delaying 75 flights.

In the U.S., police officers have been injured in pro-Palestinian attempted airport blockades. At Berlin and Munich airports, aircraft have had to divert to avoid landing on protestors who glued their hands to the runways. At a pro-Palestinian protest at JFK, a large balloon was repeatedly launched in a possible effort to disrupt flight operations.

Major US airports like JFK, LGA, LAX, PDX, ORD, SEA and ATL have been blocked, some multiple times. Travelers have had to abandon rideshare vehicles and lug heavy luggage to their terminal.

In a protest at LAX in December 2023, pro-Palestinian protestors attempted to block an approach road, strewing it with debris and attacking stalled drivers in their vehicles. A police officer was thrown to the ground, and 36 arrests were made. Yet there has been little or no Federal investigation or action.

Bottom Line

The good news is that air travel has recovered from COVID and carries billions of leisure and business fliers around the world in relative safety.

One threat to airline safety—that of the “unruly passenger”—actually dropped in 2024. According to CNN, the FAA investigated more than 2,000 unruly passenger incidents in 2024, “a big drop from a record high of 5,973 in 2021.” Yet the 2024 total was still nearly twice as high as in the pre-Covid era.

Yes, flying is safer that driving. But airlines, aircraft manufacturers, regulatory agencies and the flying public cannot be complacent in the face of the highest flight death total in six years. Continued vigilance is the bottom line.

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