Thank you so much for the detailed reply! That is genuinely so helpful - thank you.
I completely agree; in its current state, the game gives no feedback for a successfully piloted plane, but gives very noticeable feedback for a crashed plane! I'm hoping that the health bar, since it adds tangible stakes to the game, will help with the problems you discussed. Since there would be a concrete losing condition, crashing 2 planes is no longer the worst single event that can happen in the game - losing is! A crash should still be painful, but saving enough planes will 'heal' back the damage taken from the crash, which I hope will make individual crashes feel much less discouraging, while also providing more value and satisfaction from successfully piloted planes.
I think crashes should build a feeling of tension and chaos, but not build a feeling of defeat.