All four of these accidents made air travel look grim in the last ten days of 2024, as millions traveled for Christmas and New Year holidays. Critically, these were incidents involving airlines from South Korea, Azerbaijan, Canada and even in the Netherlands.
The worst was Sunday’s Jeju Air tragedy, which claimed the lives of 179 people when a plane carrying 181 people crashed on landing. The sky fell, twin engine aircraft skidded without landing gear then slammed into a wall while bursting into flames. Serious injuries meant that only two crew members survived. Jeju Air’s CEO said he was sorry publicly, while South Korea has declared seven days of mourning.
Azerbaijan Airlines flight, from Baku to Grozny, crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Christmas Day killing 38 of 67 people on board. Tensions rise as Ukrainian drone activity is heightened, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accuses Russian forces of shooting down the plane by accident. So far, Russia has neither confirmed nor denied the accusation, but has said it is conducting a criminal investigation.
A fire on an Air Canada Express flight caused a scare at Halifax airport on December 28. No people were killed, and passengers were evacuated safely. Fears were heightened among those on board after a virus video showed smoke filling the cabin. Operations briefly at the Halifax airport were disrupted by the incident but normalcy returned within hours. That same day, a KLM Oslo to Amsterdam flight got into trouble once again. After a loud noise, the plane veered off the runway onto grass at Sandefjord airport. All 176 passengers and six crew members were unharmed. The aviation industry is reaching 2025, these are just examples of the need to have harsh regulations, researchers should also involve in deeper investigations, standardization of all permits and stricter monitoring of these violations in other to have a safer 2025
