As of early 2026, the last fatal crash of a major US commercial scheduled passenger airline was Colgan Air Flight 3407 (operating as Continental Connection), which occurred on February 12, 2009, near Buffalo, New York. This accident, which resulted in 50 fatalities, led to massive changes in pilot training and fatigue regulations (the "1,500-hour rule"). It is important to distinguish this from "Part 121" major airlines vs. "General Aviation" or "Part 135" charter flights. While there have been minor incidents, mechanical failures, or fatal accidents involving small private planes, cargo planes (like Atlas Air 3591 in 2019), or corporate charters since then, the US commercial aviation industry has maintained an unprecedented "gold standard" of safety for nearly 17 years. The most recent "major" incident involving a passenger fatality was Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 in 2018, where an engine failure led to a broken window and the death of one passenger—but notably, the aircraft landed safely, and it was not a "crash" in the traditional sense of total hull loss.