Yet Another Texas Aviation Accident Raises Questions About Industry Safety

On March 3, 2025, violent turbulence injured five people aboard a United Express flight from Springfield, MO heading to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The plane made an emergency landing at Waco Regional Airport. The 5 injured passengers were hospitalized; the remaining 23 passengers and 3 crew were unharmed.

Two other flights diverted to Waco due to turbulence that night, one of them an American Airlines flight heading to DFW. The turbulence was created by a powerful storm system moving across northern Texas. A similarly powerful storm is expected to sweep through the same region later this week.

A String of Plane Accidents Involving US Airlines

The injuries aboard the United Express flight (SkyWest 5690) mark the sixth aviation accident involving US airlines in the last six weeks. It's eight if you consider the "near misses" of flights experiencing unusual or (luckily) non-injury accidents. For instance, a FedEx flight caught fire after hitting a bird in Newark; a Boston flight had to reverse course after smoke could be smelled in the cabin.

None of these incidents have a common cause except that the commercial aviation industry is at the heart of all of them. The response from airline companies has not exactly instilled confidence in passengers either, especially with Delta offering $30,000 to passengers as a settlement after one of its planes rolled and burst into flames on the runway.

Why Did the United Express Flight Have to Land?

The cause of the United Express incident seems to be “weather,” but pilots are no stranger to storm conditions. They often have to navigate heavy turbulence, especially in places like Texas where storms are semi-frequent.

So why did turbulence, even intense turbulence, injure five passengers on this flight?

Turbulence occurs when a plane is experiencing winds moving different directions or different speeds. Pressure differences exert force on the plane, which causes the violent shaking many of us are familiar with. Typically, turbulence is harmless; planes are designed to withstand forces that far exceed the force exerted by strong turbulence. But airlines are also responsible for ensuring their flights are not putting passengers and crew at risk.

Ultimately, the airlines knew there was going to be a storm system moving through its flight path. In response, they could have delayed the flight or changed the flight path to get around the storm. Instead, they moved through it—and now five passengers are in the hospital.