Last Thursday's crash of a Bombardier Q400 Turbo prop ended the safest period in the history of U.S. commercial aviation with more than 25 million flights in the USA during the past two and a half years.

Flying is the way to go when you compare this to over 100,000 traffic related deaths in the USA during the same period.  There have been some close calls;  a jet running off a runway in Denver, and the fatality-free landing in New York's Hudson River.  These and a few others will help federal regulators focus on the three main areas of concern - ice, birds, and runway incidents.

Ice forming on the wings, flocks of birds snuffing out the engines, and miscommunication on the runway can all cause the airplane to suddenly loose control.  In the case of ice due to light percipitation and freezing temperatures, the airflow over the wings of the plane is disrupted, and can cause a sudden loss of lift and throw a plane out of control in an instant.  The threat of birds has not received much attention until recently, because birds have not caused an airline fatality since 1960. But the Jan. 15, 2009, episode in New York has drawn attention back to this issue.  And finally, the FAA has logged 20-30 incidents a year in recent years, where planes almost collided on runways. Most of those instances involved private planes, but there were also several serious near-collisions between airliners. The NTSB lists runway safety as one of its "most wanted" safety improvements.

The FAA is hoping to work on these three areas of concern with improved training and technology.