Per-flight risk
Commercial aviation runs at roughly 0.1 fatal accidents per million flights worldwide. For top-tier carriers (the airlines we cover) the number is closer to 0.02 — about 1 in 50 million. You'd need to fly daily for ~150,000 years to expect a fatal incident on a single carrier.
Where the number used to be
In 1970 the rate was 6.5 per million flights. The drop is the result of three changes: redundant flight computers, mandatory crew resource management, and ICAO accident-investigation sharing. None of these are reversible.
What the modern aircraft is designed against
Two engines failing on one wing — survivable, single-engine landing. Severe turbulence — survivable, structural margin huge. Bird strike — survivable, every engine certified to ingest birds without losing thrust. Pilot incapacitation — survivable, copilot trained for it. Each scenario you might fear has multiple independent backup systems.
Why news coverage feels disproportionate
Aviation incidents get global coverage because they're rare. The base rate is so low that any incident becomes news. Driving fatalities — about 3,200 per day globally — almost never make the front page.