Are there more plane incidents recently or does it just seem that way?

Dramatic video of frightened passengers bracing for impact during emergency landings, airplanes crashing onto highways, buildings and fields, and social media posts showing firsthand perspectives of people frantically escaping down emergency slides -- it seems like lately there has been a steady stream of a plane or helicopter mishaps grabbing our attention.

But are more plane incidents actually happening? According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the short answer is "No." Investigations for plane accidents this year are down, but recent high-profile events and dramatic videos have put aviation safety in the spotlight.

It had been 16 years since the last major commercial airline crash in the U.S. before an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter collided over the Potomac River at Reagan National Airport in Washington in January, killing all 67 people on the two aircraft.

In the days and weeks that followed, in separate incidents, there were flight diversions because of smoke in the cabin, the fiery crash of a medical flight into a Philadelphia neighborhood, planes clipping wings on the ground, the Delta crash in Toronto where an airliner ended up on its back in flames, and a number of private small plane crashes around the country.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has repeatedly emphasized that flying is safe.

“If the airspace wasn't safe, the FAA would shut it down. So no, the airspace is safe,” Duffy said in a February interview with Fox News. “Air travel is the safest form of travel in the country. So you can travel and feel good about it on American airplanes.”

According to NTSB data, there were 1,006 single-engine plane accidents in the United States investigated by the agency in 2024, the lowest number since 2006, excluding 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted air travel.

NTSB data also shows that last year was the lowest number of helicopter fatalities in the United States since at least 2007, with 15.

“We kind of are very lucky in this country to have such a safe aviation system, and I think it's because of the regulatory framework with the FAA, our close partnership with industry in the FAA, and all the technological advancements and improvements in training and awareness to the pilots, so that whole system is working,” said Mike Ginter, senior vice president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Air Safety Institute. “So I'd say it's normal to be a little nervous about it now, but I would encourage people to look at the data.”

Why does it seem like there are so many small plane crashes?

There are significantly more general aviation aircraft flying than commercial ones.

According to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, there were 7,572 commercial aircraft and 209,703 general aviation or civilian-owned aircraft in the United States in 2023.

“So we have far more airplanes, far more pilots. So you would imagine that the data would extrapolate out to maybe we would see slightly more number of accidents in the NTSB dataset,” Ginter told ABC. “The most important thing, though, is the accident rate has been going down for 30 years.”

“I have to get a very specific number of flight hours, pass a written test and then a check ride," Ginter said. "And that check ride is fairly grueling, and then at the end of my private pilot license, for example, every two years, I have to take another check ride with a certified flight instructor. It's called a flight review."

The FAA requires helicopter and small-aircraft pilots to undergo a medical exam every two to three years. This includes a full-body physical, vision, hearing and blood pressure tests to ensure they are fit to fly. It also requires that their aircraft go through inspections to ensure airworthiness.

“Every year, every aircraft has to go through a very extensive annual inspection, a maintenance inspection that has to be done by a certified airframe and power plant mechanic,” Ginter said. “So that's far more stringent than what it takes to drive a car and and I think those regulatory frameworks have have been focused so well over the decades that it's kept aviation safe, and it's really a driver to why general aviation has been getting safer for 30 years.”

Experts stressed that aviation remains the safest form of travel in the United States. According to the FAA, more than 45,000 flights -- including cargo and other aircraft -- and more than 2.9 million passengers move through the country’s 29 million square miles of national airspace each day -- nearly all of them arriving without incident.

Jennifer Homendy, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, routinely says flying is safer than driving to the airport.

“Aviation is incredibly safe," Homendy said while presenting the preliminary report on the D.C. crash. "[Reagan National] is where I always fly out of. I say often that your biggest risk is in your personal vehicle when you're going to and from the aircraft at the airport. Aviation is safe.”

-ABC News' Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.