In 2006 media and the airlines were boasting how there had not been a single US jet that claimed a life in several years. By just July 2009, some 500 people have been killed making it the deadliest year for airplanes since 2002, and this is just during the first 6 months. The yearly average since 2000 is 344. The 2009 numbers put this a year well above average in deaths, which leave people asking why? The fact is that there is a near tie as to the reason for airline crashes between pilot error and mechanical malfunction. This decade will be among the highest for airplane deaths since the 1940's. It also takes the US from having the decade with the lowest airplane deaths to the highest. Despite the economy, airlines are going to have to provide more comprehensive training to pilots. The public is not going to find the current statistics satisfactory at all, and obviously nobody wants to see more deaths or serious incidents on airlines.