plain silica gel is generally harmless*

the color indicating gel can have some nasty stuff in it like cobalt chloride

Accidents happen all the time, mostly in general aviation (privately owned, usually small aircraft, but can include business jets). A lot of incidents are minor. Usually a wing strike or a collision with a ground vehicle. When there are accidents that result in loss of life, you may see the occasional news outlet pick it up. However, a majority of the time it’s just local news outlets.

You will see accidents more often than not in general aviation due to less stringent regulations and a varying degree of pilot experience. Commercial aviation still remains one of the safest forms of travel.

Something to note is that incidents are reported to the authorities (FAA/NTSB when necessary), but you are correct in that they are not reported on by news agencies. Shock and sensationalism sells, and I’m tired of seeing my news feed full of sensational clickbait titles in general.

Not to downplay the severity of what’s been happening recently (DCA, Philadelphia, and now Toronto), but what you are seeing in the news is the same thing that happened to trains after the East Palestine incident in Ohio. For months after the East Palestine incident, every major news outlet was talking about every trend derailment. There are an average of about three derailments a day in the US yet you don’t really see anybody but local news covering it nowadays.

There are incidents in aviation everyday whether there are engine failures that need to return to an airport or a runway excursion. It’s just the nature of news and media, to be sensational and get as many clicks as possible. “Oh a plane’s engine caught fire in Houston while on the takeoff roll! we better cover it because aviation is hot in the news!”