Joe Yates
A crop of flights in North America have turned fatal over the last few weeks, with the mid-air collision in Washington DC being the most shocking of the bunch.
While questions have been raised over why there has been an 'increase' in plane crashes of late, an expert has suggested it isn't down to concerns over the safety of flying.
Aviation expert Jason Matzus, an attorney at Matzus Law, believes flying is still the safest way of traveling.
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Speaking to The US Sun, he said: "Naturally, recent plane crashes such as the Delta plane flipping on landing in Toronto and the midair collision at Reagan National in DC, have raised public awareness and concerns about the safety of flying.
"While these events are tragic, the likely explanation is simply 'random clustering' - which occurs when multiple crashes occur over a short period, warping our general perception and causing us to think that there is an increasing trend in plane crashes, when in reality these crashes, despite being so close together, are merely coincidental and not caused by a systemic safety issue.
"Our perception of an increasing trend is often amplified by media coverage."
Adding: "The reality remains that air travel is statistically the safest form of travel and the spate of recent crashes isn’t necessary indicative of an actual increase in frequency of plane crashes."
It comes as 80 people onboard a Delta Air Lines flight that crashed and flipped upside down in Toronto on Monday (February 17) were safely evacuated, while an investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
While in Arizona on February 10, a private plane owned by Vince Neil crashed into another plane at Scottsdale Airport, Arizona, as it was arriving from Austin, Texas. Neil was not on board.
Four days prior to that (February 6), a wreckage of a plane with 10 people onboard, which went missing over Alaska has been discovered with three confirmed dead, the US Coast Guard reports.
A week before that (January 31), all six people on board a medical jet that crashed in Philadelphia died, with a mid-air collision in Washington DC taking place between a military chopper and a commercial plane two days beforehand (January 29).
It was the US's deadliest aviation disaster since 2001, with all 67 people involved in the Washington DC plane crash having died.
It took place as pilots Jonathan Campos and Samuel Lilley, of Flight 5342, a PSA Airlines aircraft - owned by American Airlines - approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to land their 60 passengers and two fellow crew members, when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter.