Daily Tribune
An American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas collided midair with a military Black Hawk helicopter while on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport outside of Washington, DC. According to reports, there were no survivors among the 67 people onboard both aircraft.
Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/ U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images/AFP
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire that broke out on an Air Busan passenger plane bound for Hong Kong, at Gimhae International Airport in Busan on 28 January 2025. The tail of a passenger aircraft caught fire at an international airport in South Korea's second-largest city on 28 January, forcing the evacuation of 176 people on board, Yonhap news agency reported.
YONHAP / AFP
A medical jet carrying six Mexican nationals crashed into a busy Philadelphia neighborhood on Friday, marking yet another aviation disaster in the United States. This incident comes just days after a passenger plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair over Washington.
Beyond these recent tragedies, the past few weeks have been marked by a series of aviation incidents worldwide, resulting in hundreds of lives lost, multiple injuries, and widespread devastation.
Here’s a breakdown of the major plane incidents that occurred from December 2024 to the present.
A small medical jet crashed into a densely populated neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia on Friday (Saturday, Philippine time), sparking a massive fire and prompting an emergency response.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance confirmed that a pediatric patient who had received treatment for a life-threatening illness in the United States was among those aboard the Learjet 55.
In an official statement, the company revealed that the aircraft carried six people — four crew members and two passengers, including the child patient and their escort.
Tragically, authorities have found no signs of survivors. All six people on board were identified as Mexican nationals.
Meanwhile, six individuals in the vicinity of the crash site sustained injuries. Three were treated and released, while the remaining three remain under care at Temple University Hospital’s Jeanes Campus.
This remains a developing story.
A catastrophic midair collision between a Bombardier passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter resulted in a devastating crash into Washington’s Potomac River.
The American Airlines flight, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, was en route to Reagan National Airport from Wichita, Kansas, when it collided with the military aircraft, which had three US Army personnel on board.
"We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly said in a news conference at Reagan National Airport, confirming that there were no expected survivors.
As of 31 January, recovery efforts focused on retrieving the 67 bodies from the near-freezing waters of the river.
Among the victims were world-class figure skaters, including former Russian world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. US Figure Skating confirmed that several members of its community were aboard the ill-fated flight.
Tragically, a Filipino police officer, Police Colonel Pergentino N. Malabed, Chief of the Supply Management Division, was also among those killed.
Seven passengers sustained injuries after an Air Busan Airbus A321 caught fire while preparing for takeoff at Gimhae International Airport in South Korea on 28 January.
Initial reports suggest that the fire may have been caused by a passenger’s portable battery, which overheated while stored in an overhead compartment. Fortunately, all 169 passengers and seven crew members were safely evacuated via inflatable slides.
"It seems that a fire broke out when a passenger's portable battery, stored in the overhead bin as carry-on luggage, became compressed," local daily JoongAng Ilbo reported.
The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was scheduled to fly to Hong Kong, caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, according to the country's transport ministry.
An Indian Coast Guard Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)-MkIII crashed during a routine training sortie in Porbandar, Gujarat on 5 January, killing all three personnel on board. The victims included two pilots and one aircrew diver.
“Immediately post incident, the crew were recovered and shifted to Government Hospital Porbandar, where they were declared brought dead,” the Coast Guard statement said.
A light aircraft crashed off the coast of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates on 30 December, killing the two people on board, according to the Emirati aviation authority.
The aircraft, operated by the Jazirah Aviation Club, lost radio contact before attempting an emergency landing near the Cove Rotana Hotel.
Despite efforts to resuscitate them, both 26-year-old Indian-origin doctor Sulaymaan Al Majid and a 26-year-old Pakistani female pilot tragically succumbed to their injuries.
An Air Canada flight operated by PAL Airlines narrowly avoided catastrophe when it landed at Halifax Stanfield International Airport with a broken landing gear.
As the aircraft skidded off the runway, a fire broke out, but emergency crews swiftly contained the situation. No major injuries or fatalities were reported.
This was the second aviation incident on 29 December, which occurred just two hours after a tragic crash involving a South Korean Jeju Air plane.
South Korea mourned the loss of 179 people after a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800, carrying 181 passengers from Thailand, crash-landed at Muan International Airport and erupted in flames.
Only two flight attendants survived the nation’s deadliest aviation disaster.
Investigators, assisted by U.S. aviation experts, cited a possible bird strike as the cause, as feathers and bloodstains were found in both engines of the plane.
Video footage captured the harrowing moment as the aircraft skidded off the runway, emitted smoke from its engines, and crashed into a wall before exploding.
A KLM Boeing 737-800 made an emergency landing at Oslo Torp Sandefjord Airport following a hydraulic failure shortly after takeoff from Oslo Airport.
The aircraft was carrying 176 passengers and six crew members.
Video showed passengers being evacuated from the aircraft using mobile stairs, as emergency responders arrived on the site. Fortunately, all 182 people on board were safely evacuated, with no reported injuries.
Christmas Day turned tragic as an Azerbaijan Airlines flight from Baku to Grozny crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board and leaving 29 survivors.
Reports suggest the plane was struck by a Russian air-defense system as it attempted to land in Grozny, capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya. The Kremlin initially denied involvement but later confirmed that Russian air defenses were active at the time of the crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin later apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, acknowledging the "tragic incident." However, Baku continues to demand full accountability from Moscow.
