An is an incident on board an Aircraft causing injury or death to one or more persons. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board definition of an aviation accident is as follows:
An occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of Flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers Death or serious Injury , or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage.
An is ''an occurrence other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft, which affects or could affect the safety of operations.''
Other countries adopt a similar approach, although there are minor variations, such as to the extent of aviation-related operations on the ground, covered, as well as with respect to the thresholds beyond which an injury is considered serious or the damage is considered substantial.
and Romain (June 15, 1785).]]
"Flying is not inherently dangerous, but to an even greater extent than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of carelessness, incapacity, or neglect"
Since the birth of flight, aircraft have crashed, often with serious consequences. This is due to the unforgiving nature of flight, where a relatively insubstantial medium, air, supports a significant mass. Should this support fail, there is limited opportunity for a good outcome. Because of this, aircraft design is concerned with minimizing the chance of failure, and pilots are trained with safety a primary consideration. Despite this, accidents still occur, though statistically flying is nowadays an extremely safe form of transportation. In fact, the relative rarity of incidents, coupled with the often dramatic outcome, is one reason why they still make headline news. Nevertheless, while the odds of actually getting caught in a plane crash are nowadays distinctly low compared to other means of transportation, the chances of not surviving such a disaster are notably higher.
Many Early Attempts At Flight ended in failure when a design raised to a height for a launch would fail to generate enough lift and crash to the ground. Some of the earliest aviation pioneers lost their lives testing aircraft they built.
fatality in history occurred in 1908 when Lt. Thomas Selfridge was killed in this plane piloted by Orville Wright . The accident was caused by propeller separation. Orville Wright suffered broken ribs, pelvis and a leg. (September 17, 1908)]]
Otto Lilienthal died after a failure of one of his gliders. On his 2500th flight ( August 10 , 1896 ), a gust of wind broke the wing of his glider, causing him to fall from a height of roughly 56 ft (17 m), fracturing his spine. He died the next day, with his last words being reported as ''Opfer müssen gebracht werden!'' ("sacrifices must be made").
Percy Pilcher was another promising aviation pioneer. Pilcher died testing The Hawk ( September 20 , 1899 ). Just as with Lilienthal, promising designs and ideas for motorized planes were lost with his death. Some other early attempts experienced rough landings, such as Richard Pearse who is generally accepted to have crash landed (survived) a motorized aircraft in some bushes, unable to gain altitude after launching from it from some height.
The Wright Flyer nearly crashed on the day of its historic flight, sustaining some damage when landing. Thomas Selfridge became the first person killed in a powered airplane on September 17 , 1908 when Orville Wright crashed after propeller failure of his one-passenger plane during military tests at Fort Myer in Virginia.
of a Boeing 720 aircraft using standard fuel with an additive designed to suppress fire. The experiment showed that the additive didn't work as expected.]]
An accident survey {Link without Title} of 2,147 airplane accidents from 1950 through 2004 determined the causes to be as follows:
- 37%: Pilot error
- 33%: Undetermined or missing in the record
- 13%: Mechanical failure
- 7%: Weather
- 5%: Sabotage (bombs, hijackings, shoot-downs)
- 4%: Other human error (air traffic controller error, improper loading of aircraft, improper maintenance, fuel contamination, language miscommunication etc.)
- 1%: Other cause
The survey excluded military, private, and charter aircraft.
Aviation safety has come a long way in over one hundred years of implementation. In modern times, two major aircraft manufacturers still co-exist: Boeing of the United States Of America and Airbus of Europe . Both have placed huge emphasis on the use of aviation safety equipment, now a billion-dollar industry in its own right, and made safety a major selling point -- realizing that a poor safety record in the aviation industry is a threat to corporate survival. Some major safety devices now required in commercial aircraft involve:
- Evacuation slides - aid rapid passenger exit from an aircraft in an emergency situation.
- Advanced Avionics - Computerized auto-recovery and alert systems.
- Turbine Engine durability improvements
- Landing Gear that can be lowered and raised even after loss of power and hydraulics.
In the United States , many civil aviation incidents have been investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board . When investigating an aviation disaster, NTSB investigators piece together evidence from the crash and determine the likely cause(s). Some accidents the NTSB has reported include:
- A United Airlines Boeing 247 was destroyed by a Nitroglycerin bomb on October 10 , 1933 , over Chesterton, Indiana , killing all ten aboard. The Chesterton Crash was the first proven case of air Sabotage .
- The Zeppelin LZ129 Hindenburg Caught Fire While Approaching To Land at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey on May 6 , 1937 — the fire destroyed the largest airship ever built and killed 35 of the 97 onboard and 1 on the ground, effectively ending the era of commercial lighter-than-air travel.
- On January 5 1941 , a plane veered off course in bad weather and crashed into the river Thames's estuary. The pilot, Amy Johnson , disappeared without a trace.
- A B-25 Mitchell bomber hit the Empire State Building on July 28 , 1945 .
- A De Havilland Comet crashed in Jalalogori , India soon after take-off from Calcutta (now Kolkata ) on May 2 , 1953 — the first of a series of crashes that led to Comet 1 fleet being grounded and eventually scrapped.
- The Grand Canyon Midair Collision, on June 30 , 1956 , in which a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation and a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 collided while flying over the Grand Canyon in Arizona , killing all 128 passengers and crew members aboard both aircraft.
- The Munich Air Disaster on February 6 , 1958 , in which an Airspeed Ambassador carrying members of the Manchester United football club crashed while attempting to take off in Slushy conditions.
- The Day The Music Died - February 3 , 1959 , plane crash that killed Richie Valens , Buddy Holly , and The Big Bopper
- The 1960 New York Air Disaster , on December 16 , 1960 , in which a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 jet collided with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation propliner over Staten Island , New York . The Constellation crashed onto a military airfield; the United jet careened into the Park Slope section of Brooklyn , where it crashed and exploded. All 128 occupants of both planes and six persons on the ground died.
- Aer Lingus Flight 712 in 1968. 61 passengers and crew were lost aboard a Vickers Viscount 803 EI-AOM from Cork to London when it crashed in mysterious circumstances into the sea off Tuskar Rock, County Wexford . No definite cause has been found. Some have speculated that the aircraft may have suffered a Missile strike
- The LANSA Lockheed Electra OB-R-941 on a flight from Lima to Pucallpa , Peru , broke apart in mid-air after being set aflame by lightning on December 24 , 1971 . It crashed in the Amazon Rainforest . 91 people died; the sole survivor was Juliane Koepcke , a 17-year old girl who survived the 2-mile fall and a 10-day walk through the jungle before being found by hunters. Her mother, famous ornithologist Maria Koepcke , died; director Werner Herzog had narrowly missed being on the same flight.
- The Andes Flight Disaster of 1972, in which the passengers who survived the crash had to resort to Cannibalism to stay alive.
- The Zagreb Mid-air Collision on September 10 , 1976 , British Airways Trident Three and Inex-Adria Aviopromet DC-9 collided over Zagreb VOR , 176 people died.
- The , 1977 , two Boeing 747 airliners, from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and PanAm collided on the runway of Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife, Islas Canarias, killing 583 people. It is the worst accidental disaster in the history of aviation.
- The crash of Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 , in San Diego, California on September 25 , 1978 , following the PSA Boeing 727-214 jetliner's midair collision with a Cessna . California's worst aviation disaster to date, with a death toll of 144.
- American Airlines Flight 191 , May 25, 1979. The DC-10's engine fell off soon after take-off from Chicago O'Hare. 273 dead.
- The Mount Erebus Disaster , in 1979, in which an Air New Zealand DC-10 flew into Mount Erebus , Antarctica .
- 28 July , 1982 - 12 passengers die in a small airplane crash in Lindale , Texas , including gospel music singer/pioneer Keith Green and his two children.
- The Air Canada Flight 143 (the " Gimli Glider ") crash-landed in Gimli, Manitoba , Canada on July 23 , 1983 after the airplane ran out of fuel because of a metric conversion error during refueling. Only a few passengers were slightly injured, and none were killed.
- Korean Air Flight 007 — Shot down by Soviet Union fighter planes. All 269 passengers and crew on board died.
- The Air India Bombing of June 23 , 1985 was the largest mass-murder in Canadian history, caused by a bomb placed in checked luggage.
- Japan Airlines Flight 123 — the worst single-aircraft disaster in history, killing 520 people. A failure to use enough rivets while repairing the plane led to the tail being blown off, causing all hydraulics to be lost and possibly causing the pilots to suffer Hypoxia . The pilots learned to use engine thrust to control the plane to some extent but it eventually crashed into a mountain.
- The USS ''Vincennes'' shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf , reportedly after mistaking it for an F-14 Fighter . All 290 passengers on board were killed.
- Ramstein Airshow Disaster — Three pilots and 67 on the ground were killed and 347 were seriously injured after a midair collision involving three planes during the performance of the Italian Air Force display team, Frecce Tricolori on August 28 , 1988
- Pan Am Flight 103 — Also known as the 'Lockerbie Bombing' or the 'Lockerbie Disaster' in the UK. On December 21 1988 Boeing 747 was destroyed in mid-air by a bomb, killing all 278 on board and another 11 on the ground
- United Flight 232 , in which the main hydraulics and both redundant back-ups were severed by a broken fan blade. The flight crew maneuvered the craft by skilled Thrust application. Over 100 passengers died, but the pilots were praised for averting a total catastrophe.
- China Airlines Flight 140 crashed at Nagoya Airport on April 26 , 1994 , killing 264 people.
- Tarom Flight 371 crashed near Baloteşti in Romania on 31 March 1995 , All persons on board (10 crew and 50 passengers) perished
- In April 1994, an attempted hijacking conducted by suicidal flight engineer Auburn Calloway aboard FedEx Flight 705 was foiled by the flight crew, who all the same suffered grievous injuries due to the several blows to the head from hammers used in the attempted takeover, which began - and ended - at Memphis, Tennesee .
- TWA Flight 800 exploded over the Atlantic Ocean on July 17 , 1996 , killing all 230 people onboard.
- AeroPeru Flight 603 crashed because of a maintenance error on October 2 , 1996 , killing 70 people.
- Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was hijacked off the coast of Africa, with the hijackers demanded that the plane fly to Australia. The plane, which lacked the amount of fuel to fly that distance, was flown into the sea by the captain. Of the 175 people onboard, 50 survived.
- Korean Air Flight 801 crashed near Guam Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport on August 6 , 1997 , killing 228 people.
- China Airlines Flight 676 crashed near Taipei's C.K.S. Int'l Airport on February 16, 1998 killing all 196 aboard and 9 on the ground
- Swissair Flight 111 crashed into the ocean near Nova Scotia , Canada on September 2 , 1998. The plane was a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland. All 229 people on board were killed.
- Mandarin Airlines Flight 642 crashed on Hong Kong International Airport during landing on August 22 , 1999 , killing 3 people.
- EgyptAir Flight 990 dove into the Atlantic Ocean on October 31 , 1999
- Air France Flight 4590 was a Concorde flight from Charles De Gaulle International Airport near Paris , France to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City , New York , which crashed on July 25 , 2000 , in Gonesse , France shortly after takeoff, killing all on board and four on the ground. The crash led to the end of Concorde flights.
- Singapore Airlines Flight SQ 006 was a Boeing 747 flying from Taipei, Taiwan to Los Angeles International Airport . Due to various contributing factors, the aircraft took off from the wrong runway, colliding with construction equipment and crashing immediately. 83 people were killed. It was the first crash of a Singapore Airlines branded plane.
- R&B singer Aaliyah was killed when a Cessna flying her and a film crew to Miami crashed in the Bahamas on August 25 , 2001 .
- September 11, 2001 Attacks — American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were intentionally crashed into the World Trade Center buildings in Manhattan , New York on September 11, 2001 , killing all on board and 2595 on the ground as the buildings collapsed. Concurrently, American Airlines Flight 77 and United Airlines Flight 93 were crashed in related terrorist attacks, into The Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and in Shanksville , Pennsylvania , respectively. As with the World Trade Center attacks, all on board these two flights were killed, as well as 125 in the Pentagon.
- American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in Queens , New York minutes after take-off on November 12 , 2001 , killing all 260 people onboard.
- China Airlines Flight 611 broke up near Penghu Islands mid-air on May 25 , 2002 , killing all 225 people on board.
- Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 , Tupolev 154 , collided mid-air with a DHL -owned cargo plane near the German town of Überlingen on July 1 , 2002 . All 71 people aboard both planes were killed (52 were Russian children travelling to Spain on a school trip). Skyguide , The private Swiss airspace control company responsible for directing the two planes has since accepted blame for the crash. The father of one of the Russian children later traveled to the private residence of the flight controller who was considered responsible for the accident and mortally wounded him with a knife.
- On July 27 , 2002 , a Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi SU-27 fighter jet Crashed Into A Crowd Of Spectators during an aerobatics performance at an airshow in Lviv , Ukraine . Both pilots ejected and landed safely, however 84 people on the ground died and more than 100 were injured, making this the worst airshow disaster to date.
- A DHL cargo plane over Baghdad , Iraq , suffered a complete loss of hydraulics after a Surface-to-air Missile (fired by terrorists in 2003 ) set fire to its left wing. On this plane, this caused a total loss of control. However, the pilots and flight engineer managed to both stablize (keep the plane flying level) and steer the plane using engine thrust and became the first crew to successfully land a plane using this method. The crew have been awarded some of the highest honours in aviation.
- Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashed shortly after take-off from Sharm El-Sheikh , Egypt, on January 3 , 2004 . All 135 passengers and 13 crew were killed.
- Helios Airways Flight 522 , Boeing 737-31S , crashed into a mountain between Marathon and Varnavas on August 14 , 2005 killing 121.
- Air France Flight 358 overshot the runway when landing at Pearson Airport , Toronto , Canada during a heavy thunderstorm on August 2 , 2005 , slid into a ravine meters away from Highway 401 , the busiest Canadian highway filled with rush-hour traffic, and was completely destroyed by fire. All 297 passengers and 12 crew survived the accident.
- West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashed in a mountainous region in northwest Venezuela on the morning of Tuesday, August 16 , 2005 , killing all 152 passengers and eight crew. It was the worst crash to date in Venezuelan history.
- TANS Peru Flight 204 crashed near Pucallpa, Peru on August 23 , 2005 . At least 41 people died and about 50 survived.
- Mandala Airlines Flight 091 crashed into a heavily-populated residential area seconds after taking off from Polonia International Airport in Medan, Indonesia on September 5 , 2005 .
- An Iranian Air Force C-130 crashed into a residential area in Tehran on December 6 , 2005 , killing at least 120.
- On December 8 , 2005 , Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 overshot the runway at Chicago Midway Airport . One of the vehicle's front tires crushed a minivan, killing one 5-year-old boy and injuring two other people inside the van.
- September 23 , 2005 , Heli USA Airways, Haena, HI
- September 20 , 2003 , Sundance Helicopters, Grand Canyon West, AZ
- July 23 , 2003 , Jack Harter Helicopters, Waialeale Crater, Kauai, HI
- An RAF Chinook Helicopter crashed on the Mull Of Kintyre in Scotland in 1994.
- Graham 'Shirley' Strachan (lead singer of the Skyhooks ) died in 2001 in a helicopter crash in Queensland, Australia
- Alia Al Hussein died in a helicopter crash in Amman, Jordan and Amman airport was afterwards renamed Queen Alia International Airport
- Abdul Salam Arif was killed in a helicopter crash in southern Iraq
- Proton 's CEO, Tan Sri Yahaya Ahmad was killed in a helicopter crash in 1997
- René Barrientos died as the result of a helicopter crash near Arque village in Bolivia.
- Bill Graham died in a helicopter crash in 1991
- Aleksandr Lebed died in a helicopter crash in bad weather in 2002
- Patriarch Petros VII of the Orthodox Church Of Alexandria died in a helicopter crash on September 11, 2004, in the Aegean Sea near Greece , killing him and several other clergy, including Bishop Nectarios of Madagascar
- Disney's second in command, Frank Wells , died in a helicopter crash
- Two MH-60 Black Hawks were shot down in the Battle Of Mogadishu , the incident on which the book and film '' Black Hawk Down '' were based
- Actor '' on July 23 , 1982 while holding two small children. A helicopter being used on the set spun out of control and crashed, decapitating him and one of the children with its blades. The remaining child was crushed as the helicopter crashed. Everyone inside the helicopter was unharmed. The accident led to massive reforms in U.S. child labor laws and safety regulations on movie sets in California.
- April 7 , 2001 - An M-17 helicopter crashes into mountain in south of Hanoi, Vietnam killing 16. The flight was carrying United States armed forces personnel searching for MIAs from Vietnam War
- Guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash on August 27 , 1990 , after performing a show in East Troy, Wisconsin . While flying from East Troy to Chicago , the helicopter encountered heavy fog and crashed into a hillside, killing all aboard. Eric Clapton was originally going to be on the helicopter, but gave his seat to Stevie.
- 1995 - A helicopter just off Aberdeen , north-east Scotland,in the North Sea , was struck by Lightning and crashed into the water, but all the crew survived on a life raft.
''Main article: List Of Coalition Aircraft Crashes In Iraq ''
- August 12 , 2005 - AH-64 Apache crashes near Kirkuk, injuring the two pilots.
- May 31 , 2005 - An Italian AB-412 helicopter crashes near Nasiriyah, killing the four soldiers on board.
- December 15 , 2004 - A helicopter crashes near Karbala after it suffers engine failure; 3 Polish soldiers are killed and 4 injured.
- September 8 , 2004 - Helicopter crashes 20 miles south of Fallujah; all 4 crew members survive.
- April 7 , 2004 - US helicopter crashes near Baquba.
- March 21 , 2003 - 4 Marines killed as helicopter crashes.
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