There are multiple reasons a plane can break up in mid-air, according to Landsberg, including over stress, turbulence, aircraft fatigue and corrosion.

Yes, it is physically possible for an aircraft to break apart in the air—an event known as an in-flight breakup—but it is an extremely rare and catastrophic event in modern commercial aviation. The primary causes are extreme structural failure, often resulting from severe metal fatigue or poor maintenance over many years, or explosive decompression caused by a bomb or a compromised pressurized hull. A plane can also break apart if it is pushed far beyond its "design envelope," such as during an unrecoverable high-speed dive or if it encounters an exceptionally powerful weather event like a microburst or extreme turbulence that exerts forces exceeding the structural limits of the wings or fuselage. However, modern aircraft are designed with "fail-safe" engineering and redundant structures that can withstand forces significantly greater than anything encountered in normal flight. Most historical breakups (like TWA 800 or Aloha 243) led to major safety overhauls in inspections and manufacturing, making the airframes flying in 2026 some of the most durable structures ever built by humans.