Fix MSFS 2024 crashes when selecting an aircraft by isolating liveries, Community packages, WASM modules, streamed content and memory faults.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 usually crashes at aircraft selection because the chosen aircraft, one of its liveries, a shared avionics package or a WASM module is incompatible or damaged. If every aircraft causes it, suspect streamed package data, exhausted RAM or VRAM, cache corruption, a graphics driver or another add-on conflict.
What does the timing of the aircraft crash reveal?
The exact moment MSFS 2024 closes helps identify which part of the aircraft is failing.
| When it crashes | Likely cause | Best first test |
|---|---|---|
| As soon as the aircraft tile or preview appears | Damaged model, texture, livery or package data | Select the same aircraft with its default livery |
| After pressing Fly or while loading the cockpit | WASM systems, avionics, missing dependency or scenery conflict | Load a simple stock aircraft at the same airport |
| Only with one aircraft | That aircraft or one of its associated packages | Remove its liveries and reinstall the aircraft |
| With every aircraft in Free Flight | Core files, streamed content, driver, memory or system instability | Start in Safe Mode and test a stock aircraft |
| Only in Career Mode or one activity | Mission configuration or saved activity state | Test the aircraft separately in Free Flight |
How do I find the aircraft or add-on causing the crash?
A controlled Free Flight test usually separates an aircraft fault from a simulator-wide crash.
- Test a stock combination. Choose an included aircraft, its default livery, clear weather and an unmodified airport. If this works, the base simulator can load an aircraft correctly.
- Retest the problem aircraft with its default livery. High-resolution or outdated liveries can crash an otherwise working aircraft. Remove every optional livery before blaming the aircraft itself.
- Use Safe Mode. After an abnormal shutdown, accept the Safe Mode prompt. This temporarily suppresses most third-party packages. If the crash disappears, an installed add-on is responsible.
- Empty the Community folder on PC. Move its contents to a temporary folder rather than deleting them. Restart MSFS 2024, test again, then restore packages in small batches until the crash returns.
- Check shared dependencies. Aircraft may rely on a separate avionics suite, instrument package or common library. An old shared component can break several apparently unrelated aircraft.
- Reinstall only the suspect package. Remove it through the simulator's content or library interface where possible, restart, and download a clean copy. Confirm that the aircraft explicitly supports MSFS 2024; our aircraft compatibility and installation checks cover the mistakes commonly made with freeware packages.
When testing a large Community folder, restore half the packages at a time and restart the simulator between batches. This binary-search method is much faster than testing hundreds of add-ons individually.
What should Xbox and PlayStation users test?
On Xbox Series X|S, PS5 and PS5 Pro, remove or disable the suspect third-party aircraft through the in-simulator content library because there is no user-accessible Community folder. Fully quit and restart the simulator after changing installed content; merely returning to the console dashboard may retain the failed session.
If an included aircraft works but purchased content does not, reinstall that aircraft and verify that it is supported on the console being used. Availability and compatibility can differ between PC, Xbox and PlayStation.
Can an MSFS 2020 aircraft crash MSFS 2024?
Yes. Some Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 aircraft work in MSFS 2024, but compatibility is not universal, especially for aircraft using compiled gauges, custom installers, external applications or old shared libraries.
Do not copy an entire MSFS 2020 Community folder into MSFS 2024 and troubleshoot afterwards. Add aircraft individually, confirm explicit 2024 support, and test each one before installing its liveries or enhancement packages. Repacking an old aircraft into a different folder does not make incompatible systems code work.
When is WASM the likely cause?
A WASM fault is most likely when the aircraft can be selected but MSFS 2024 closes during cockpit loading, system initialisation or shortly after entering the flight. Complex third-party aircraft commonly use WASM modules for their systems and instruments.
Test the aircraft without liveries, avionics replacements or enhancement packages. If a stock aircraft loads at the same airport, follow our WASM-specific isolation and repair steps rather than reinstalling the whole simulator.
What if stock aircraft also crash?
If every included aircraft crashes in Safe Mode, the problem is probably outside the selected aircraft package.
- Finish any pending simulator and content updates, then restart the computer or console.
- Use a stable internet connection so MSFS 2024 can retrieve required streamed content.
- On PC, update the graphics driver and temporarily disable overlays, frame-generation injectors, monitoring tools and non-standard CPU, GPU or memory settings.
- Close memory-heavy applications and reduce texture demands. Large cockpit textures, detailed scenery and high-resolution liveries can exhaust VRAM during flight loading; use our RAM and VRAM troubleshooting steps if a low-memory warning appears.
- Use the PC platform's file verification or repair function after add-ons have been ruled out.
A full reinstall should be the last step. It will not fix an incompatible Community package if that package is copied straight back afterwards, and synchronised content may restore the original trigger. For crashes that continue outside aircraft selection, work through our broader simulator crash checklist covering drivers, damaged packages, software conflicts and hardware stability.