After a series of plane crashes, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says “of course” it’s safe to fly

(CBS News) — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sought to alleviate fears about flying amid a spate of plane crashes and incidents in recent weeks, telling CBS News in an interview Wednesday, “of course” it’s safe to fly.

“If you get in a plane, if you look at how many people fly, how many flights we have, of course it’s a safe space,” Duffy said.

Duffy said there isn’t a pattern behind the incidents, calling them each “very unique.”

“I do think as we look at the incidents or the crashes, it gives us an opportunity to say what went wrong? What can we improve upon in the system off these crashes?” he said.

The U.S. saw its deadliest air crash in more than two decades in January when a Black Hawk helicopter with three crew members on board collided with an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members near Washington, D.C. There were no survivors.

Days later, seven people died when a small plane crashed in a Philadelphia neighborhood.

On Monday, a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis caught fire and flipped upside down while landing in Toronto. All 80 onboard survived.

Duffy said improving the nation’s air traffic control system is a priority and stressed that changes need to be made immediately because there are systems in the network “that are run on floppy disks.”

“The systems that we use are so old,” he said. “I need the Congress to move faster with us. We can’t wait four years, six years, 10 years. We have to do it right now.”

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