CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A string of plane crashes and malfunctions over the past two months has rattled travelers across the United States. Corpus Christi International Airport (CCIA) said the recent events will not change how they operate. They will continue to prioritize safety and adhere to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.
Aviation crews told Neighborhood News Reporter Alexis Scott that they understand travelers may have concerns, but they truly have nothing to worry about.
"Nope, it doesn't [change the way we fly]. We have the safest system in the world," Terrance Davis, a former military pilot and current CEO of Splendid Aviation, said. "I know there have been a lot of issues in the past two months, but I just chuck it off as bad timing, bad days, everybody has them."
Davis has been operating Splendid Aviation, one of the top flight schools and aviation service providers in South Texas, since 2020. Before the recent devastation hitting the aviation industry and even now, Davis said his team holds regular meetings to discuss how they can improve their skills.
"We always have what we call a pilot's brief where we all get together and talk about recent issues that may have occurred that could have been a safety issue," Davis added. "So, that we can avoid making that same mistake."
Only two months into 2025 and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported 94 plane crashes in the U.S., including one in Marana, Arizona, that happened just hours before Scott spoke with CCIA's Chief Public Safety Director, John Hyland.
He and his team are required to annually meet with 40 different mutual-aid partners to enhance skills and training in case of an emergency.
"There's a requirement that if we don't maintain our training, we can lose our certificate for the airport," Hyland said. "The officers take pride in that and that's something that drives them to do better. Every time we have an incident, we learn from it."
They also conduct full-scale emergency incident training every three years to stay prepared.
"You'll actually have triage and we'll have actors from local community colleges and high schools that will play victims," Hyland said. "We have to transition through that whole process and try to see how that is going to work so we can get people to the hospital, so we can help mitigate those emergencies."
In an aircraft emergency, crews are required by the FAA to respond in no more than three minutes. He added air traffic control is a pivotal factor in aviation success and doesn't believe the recent events will impact how people travel.
"Standards continue to improve and when we see instances that occur that just reaffirms our belief and the training and how we get together to make sure that we're prepared," Hyland said.
Hyland added that he and other aviation professionals still consider flying to be the safest form of transportation than any other option.
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