Our mainstream news media does a poor job of reporting the news these days and while there are many reasons for it, one of them is their failure to connect the dots. Did you know we have had 4 air disasters in just the last week after a record of no incidents since February 12, 2009, when a flight out of Newark, New Jersey crashed near Buffalo, New York, killing 50 people?
This is a recap of what just transpired:
1-24-25 – United Airlines-613 Loses Altitude over Africa Returns to Lagos, Nigeria Airport
A United Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner heading to Washington, D.C. was only 93 minutes into its flight when it experienced a sudden drop in altitude. Some 245 passengers and 11 crew members were onboard with 40 sustaining injuries with 6 of those deemed critical, 4 passengers and 2 flight crew. An ongoing investigation seeks to uncover the cause of this alarming incident as scrutiny intensifies on both United Airlines and Boeing.
1-29-25 – F-35A crash at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, pilot safely ejected.
President Donald Trump and DOGE Director Elon Musk have questioned the value of the F-35 fighter jet program and with good reason.
- In 2024, an F-35B test pilot was in serious condition after ejecting from the aircraft while refueling at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.
- In 2023, a pilot ejected from an F-35B over South Carolina after experiencing an electrical issue and becoming disoriented. Military and law enforcement officials couldn’t locate the jet for nearly a day.
- In 2022, there were four F-35 incidents and crashes.
Each fighter jet is reported to cost $100m up. This most recent 2025 incident had the 354th Fighter Wing unnamed pilot report to the hospital for observation where he was reported to be okay.
“F-35 jet crashes in Alaska, pilot ejects safely” – ABC News
1-29-25 – American Airlines-5432 got hit by an Army Black Hawk Helicopter PAT25 in Washington, D.C.
Sixty-four civilians and 3 military personal died after a regional jet collided midair with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C. Both aircraft went down in the Potomac River after a fireball explosion breaking into multiple pieces. AA flight 5432 had departed from Wichita, Kansas and was on final approach to Reagan National Airport at the time of the collision. Some of America’s most promising future Olympic skaters were lost in the mishap.
“Plane Crash with Black Hawk Helicopter Explained” – AI Telly
1-31-25 – Medical Learjet 55 loses power and crashes 30 seconds after takeoff out of Philadelphia, PA
Six people aboard died including the child patient who’d been treated in Philly for a life threatening condition along with that child’s mother. The mother and child along with flight crew were from Mexico. The flight was headed to Tijuana with one stop in the Midwest. The jet went down nose first for reasons unknown near a shopping mall impacting homes and vehicles. Nobody on the ground was seriously injured. The accident caused 7 deaths and 19 injuries.
“Medical plane carrying child patient, 5 others crashes in Philadelphia, setting homes ablaze” – KGW8 News
CONCLUSION:
As one evaluates the 4 incidents of this last week, the could all be classified as a coincidence or a string of bad luck but one can only hope we have new people in the Trump-Vance Administration’s FAA and DoD ready to look at all possibilities leaving no stone unturned.
It may sound cliché to say it but many Americans do offer their thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims and survivors of these accidents as empathy is a common trait of patriotic Americans everywhere.
Let us all hope and pray the incident of Philadelphia is the last of these air disasters for a very long time.
© 2025 by Mark S. Schwendau
www.IDrawIWrite.Tech.
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Mark Schwendau is a retired college technology educator and author of Illinois. He holds a BS degree in technology education and a MS degree in industrial management. He has had news articles published in online news journals such as Communities Digital News and Independent Sentinel. His opinions are his own as assured by the First Amendment of the Constitution.
