Most Notable Plane Crashes In History?

gkirk · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:11 pm

All plane crashes are off course horrific, especially if loss of life is involved. But there are some crashes that spring to mind when you talk about plane crashes, and others which you don't remember.
Some crashes which jump to mind are:
Pan Am 103
AF Concorde
TW800
9/11
EgyptAir 767
AA191 (?), the DC-10 at Chicago
Sioux City

Which other crashes could be said to be "notable" and spring to your mind immediately?

soups · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:15 pm

probably KLM 747 and another airline hitting one another on the runway

gkirk · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:18 pm

Quoting Soups (Reply 1):
probably KLM 747 and another airline hitting one another on the runway

Ah yes, I completely forgot about Tenerife, KLM 747 and Pan Am 747 colliding

EI747SYDNEY · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:19 pm

United and American. Lost in the terrorist attacks on the US 9/11/2001 in New York, Washington DC and Shanksville. PA

Rob

soups · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:20 pm

Swissair from JFK?
Helios 737 north of athens?
and who can forget the hijacked ET 767

bongo · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:21 pm

AV 747 landing in MAD in 1983, for Colombia was horrific since many passengers were famous and well known people.

aloges · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:21 pm

Quoting Soups (Reply 1):
probably KLM 747 and another airline hitting one another on the runway

The other airline was Pan Am and the airport was TFN.

LFutia · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:21 pm

Air India 185(?) that crashed over the Atlantic in 1985.

Leo

BCAL · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:22 pm

The collision of the PanAm and KLM 747s at Los Rodeos
BEA Trident at Staines on 18/06/1972
BEA Comet 4B off Rhodes on 12/10/1967
Dan Air 727 near Los Rodeos on 25/04/1980
Swissair MD11 off Nova Scotia on 02/09/1998
and the 1950s Comet crashes

EI747SYDNEY · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:22 pm

Another one Guys

ELAL cargo 747 into a block of apartment blocks on takeoff from Schipol in Amsterdam

Rob

Alitalia744 · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:24 pm

Korean Air Lines 007 was also a well known one.

vunz · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:27 pm

SR111
KE007
JL123
NZ901
TK981
DL191

ARGinLON · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:27 pm

Quoting Gkirk (Reply 2):
Ah yes, I completely forgot about Tenerife, KLM 747 and Pan Am 747 colliding

What were they doing two 747s in Tenerife? Diversions perhaps?

EI747SYDNEY · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:29 pm

Quoting ARGinLON (Reply 12):
What were they doing two 747s in Tenerife? Diversions perhaps?

It's a popular torist destination and these would most likley be charters

Rob

gkirk · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:29 pm

Quoting ARGinLON (Reply 12):
What were they doing two 747s in Tenerife? Diversions perhaps?

LPA had been closed due to a bomb threat.

On a slightly related note, 747s are common visitors to both TFN and TFS nowadays

BCAL · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:32 pm

Quoting ARGinLON (Reply 12):
What were they doing two 747s in Tenerife? Diversions perhaps?

Both 747s were diverted to Los Rodeos as LPA was closed due to exploded bomb and suspected further bombs see http://www.tenerifecrash.com/ for details.

ARGinLON · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:33 pm

Quoting Gkirk (Reply 14):
LPA had been closed due to a bomb threat.

On a slightly related note, 747s are common visitors to both TFN and TFS nowadays

Pan Am had a 747 service to LPA? Or was it done from MAD?

I believe IB operates High density 742s to TFN/TFS?

vs773er · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:36 pm

Everyone has a different twist to it which makes it equally as horrific as the next.
I used to hate flying and be shaking from gate to gate, so I started to look up the histroty of accidents and made it a mission to find out when how and why. After scanning NTSB reports and reading up on airdisaster.com over the span of a few years my fears subsided.

Some accidents are still just as shocking to read about for the 2nd or 3rd time, because of the totally illogical causes. I suppose the Sioux city one jumps out to me, when they traced it back to a hairline fracture in one of the blades or something in the no2 engine, the sequence of events caused by that one, small, almost unoticable problem still send quivers down my spine!

Another one that stands out to me is the avianca 707 that crash landed prior to landing at jfk - due to fuel exhaustion. All traced down to a misunderstanding between atc and the fo's mayday call.

tokolosh · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:38 pm

There was also the mysterious crash of the SAA 747 called "Helderberg". There are many rumours about what brought it down, but most think (including the Sunday Times in South Africa) that the plane was carrying a very volatile chemical intended for military use.

CrazyHorse · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:41 pm

The crash of Lauda Air BKK - VIE

My uncle was booked on this flight, his bus was delayed an so he had miss this tragic flight.

ClassicLover · Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:44 pm

Air Florida Flight 90 always comes to my mind, as the movie of that is what got me interested in plane crashes in the first place.

Trent.

AirScoot · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:12 pm

What about the AV flight to New York that ran out of fuel and crashed on Long Island?

HAWK21M · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:13 pm

Quoting Gkirk (Reply 2):
KLM 747 and Pan Am 747

That sure is the Frontrunner.
regds
MEL

kiwiandrew · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:26 pm

I would go for the series of crashes of the original DH comets - from what I have read they moved the science/art of aircrash investigation on hugely - we will never know how many lives have been saved in the years since then because of crashes prevented by previous investigations .

OPNLguy · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:36 pm

Quoting Gkirk (Thread starter):
Which other crashes could be said to be "notable" and spring to your mind immediately?

Personally, when I think "notable" I think in terms of the crash being "landmark" in that it was either the first of its kind (as far as cause), or that the specific crash drove new technology and/or procedures in the industry to prevent a recurrence.

Along those lines:

The Grand Canyon Mid-Air (United and TWA)
PSA 182 (SAN)

Eastern 401 near MIA
United 178 near PDX

Eastern 66 (JFK)
Pan Am 759 (MSY)
Delta 191 (DFW)

American 191 (ORD)
United 232 (SUX)
Japan 123 (Japan)

Pan Am 103 (Lockerbie)

Avianca 52 (Long Island)

TWA 800 (Long Island)

ValuJet 592 (near MIA)

TWA 514 (near IAD)

gkirk · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:38 pm

Just remembered the DHL 757 and Tu154 mid air collision

manni · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:38 pm

The Iran Air, A300 that got shot down by a US navy ship above the Persian Gulf.

kbuf737 · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:43 pm

What flight number was that 733 that crashed near PIT for US. Also the CLT DC-9 That crashed due to windshear. Those were pretty memorable.

a300 · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:46 pm

Yes, IR 655 was the most memorable for me: An A300 "mistaken" for a F-14 (kind of like mistaking a mobile home for a high rise apartment building).
TWA 800 was also memorable: "unexpected" center tank explosion. Same had happend 20 years earlier to an Iranian Air Force B747.

tothestars · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:46 pm

I'll never forget the Air Florida(?)crash into the icy Potomac. I remember being a kid and watching the rescue live on TV.

TPASXM787 · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:54 pm

AA 587, the A300 that crashed on Long Island a couple of months after 9/11

Sabena332 · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:57 pm

Quoting ARGinLON (Reply 16):
Pan Am had a 747 service to LPA?

It was a charter flight for cruise ship passengers.

Patrick

PHLBOS · Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:59 pm

Quoting KBUF737 (Reply 27):
What flight number was that 733 that crashed near PIT for US.

I would like to say either Flight 423 or 427(?). Either way, that crash along with another US 737 crash that occured about a year later soured US' relationship w/Boeing. Probably the main reason why US opted for the A320 series rather than the 737NG.

Quoting OPNLguy (Reply 24):
ValuJet 592 (near MIA)

Noteable, mostly because from that day henceforth; LCCs (other than WN) realized that one can not rely soley on old 2nd-hand aircraft in the long run. Nowadays, at least in the USA; most of the LCCs have a younger fleet than their legacy competitors... or at least heading in that direction.

D950 · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:02 am

I will never forget walking home from school, and feeling the ground shake like I have never expierienced, I was 10 and ran home scared scared $hitless, when my Mom told me two planes (UA, TWA) had collided overt Staten Island, and the UA DC8 came down fifteen blocks from our home. Tragic, and to this day there is still close activity over that area when LGA and JFK aren using certain runway configs.

na · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:04 am

Relatively minor disasters but notable ones include:
-Part of the ManU team killed in an Ambassador crashing on takeoff from Munich in the late 50s.
-Paninternational BAC 1-11 crashlands on the motorway north of Hamburg after both engines failed (early 70s).

VEEREF · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:09 am

If I had to narrow down one significant crash, it would be Air Florida 90 in Washington. What makes this particular crash significant is that it had the longest known "chain" of human errors and the most opportunities for prevention. Tenerife would come in a close second in error chain but much more los of life.

Flaps · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:12 am

US at PIT was 427 and memorable for many reasons. I had employees in the guard unit assigned to the recovery. Lots of horrible stories.

fxra · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:15 am

Lets go way back...

TWA (TransContinental and Western), Atlanta, Missouri, 1935.. DC-2 crash in fog that killed a US senator, led to establishment of the US Civil Aeronautics Act.. and eventually the FAA and current rules and regs for air travel.

later
jd

ltbewr · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:16 am

Another was the 1930 (?) crash of a TWA Fokker A-10 Trimotor. This crash was brought to my attention by a recent program on the History Channel, 'Engineering Failures'. Among the all killed on board was Notre Dame Football coach, Knute Rockne, at the height of his coaching career. Among the affects on airline history includes:
One of the first passanger airline fatal accidents where a celeberty was killed. One of the earliest investigations by what is now the FAA as to the cause of the crash and determing the cause. It was determined that the wing structure, made of wood failed due to a very long wing design and the mounting of the wing engine. It led to the withdrawal from service of this model aircraft by airlines using them, due to passanger fears. It led to the end of major structures of aircraft made of wood and more toward metal. It led TWA, needing a replacement aircraft, to go to Douglas Aircraft and propose and specify a new aircraft - what would become the DC-3, an aircraft still in service all over the world.

vlada · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:18 am

Most horrible in my (former) country was a mid-air collision of BA476 Trident with 60 people onboard and a JP550 DC-9 with 113 people onboard, which happened over ZAG in 1976. The ATC was blamed for this tragic event.

The 9/11 WTC hits, as well as Korean 007, for me were the most tragic in a sense that somehow they were not related to anything that has to do with airline technology, just pure terrorism.

As for others, the Swissair 111 flight comes to mind, as a purely technology-related crash.

FlySSC · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:19 am

Quoting ARGinLON (Reply 16):
Pan Am had a 747 service to LPA? Or was it done from MAD?

It was a charter flight LAX-JFK-LPA, carrying passengers who were boarding a cruise from Las Palmas ...
The 747 was then supposed to fly on a positionning flight to CDG.

Back to the topic : everybody mentionned in the posts above almost all the crashes in the past 30 years !!! It shows clearly that each crash is considered as "Notable" according to the airline you work for, or the country you live in, or the country where you were born, etc....

na · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:20 am

How could anyone forget the "Hindenburg" disaster at Lakehurst in 1937?
That, for me, was the most "spectacular" aviation disaster of all time (excluding 9/11).

redflyer · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:21 am

Quoting Vlada (Reply 39):
Most horrible in my (former) country was a mid-air collision of BA476 Trident with 60 people onboard and a JP550 DC-9 with 113 people onboard, which happened over ZAG in 1976. The ATC was blamed for this tragic event.

If I recall correctly, that crash was notable for another interesting fact - there was a lone survivor from the DC-9. I believe it was a flight attendant who was all the way in the back and rode down in the severed tail section of the plane.

OPNLguy · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:24 am

Quoting PHLBOS (Reply 32):
Noteable, mostly because from that day henceforth; LCCs (other than WN) realized that one can not rely soley on old 2nd-hand aircraft in the long run.

With all due respect, the fact that VJ592 was an older DC-9 had absolutely nothing to do with the crash. Had the the improperly packaged and improperly shipped oxygen generators been on a 737-700 instead of a DC-9, I think you'd have had the same result, i.e. the onboard fire and subsequent loss of control.

In my mind, VJ592 was notable because it focused attention on the outsourcing of maintenance work, the lack of proper FAA oversight, and the fact that the airline itself is ultimately responsible for its aircraft (whether it does the work in-house, or contracts it out to a third party).

MichiganMAN · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:26 am

Coming from Manchester, I'd have to put the Munich Air Disaster right up there as a considerable pisser.

Dougloid · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:28 am

Quoting D950 (Reply 33):
I will never forget walking home from school, and feeling the ground shake like I have never expierienced, I was 10 and ran home scared scared $hitless, when my Mom told me two planes (UA, TWA) had collided overt Staten Island, and the UA DC8 came down fifteen blocks from our home. Tragic, and to this day there is still close activity over that area when LGA and JFK aren using certain runway configs.

I remember that one pretty well growing up in Jersey. It is said one of the engines from one of the airplanes fell through the roof of a building occupied by the Pillar of Fire Church...that may be urban folklore but what do you expect from Jersey hillbillies?

OPNLguy · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:32 am

Quoting Fxra (Reply 37):
TWA (TransContinental and Western), Atlanta, Missouri, 1935.. DC-2 crash in fog that killed a US senator, led to establishment of the US Civil Aeronautics Act.. and eventually the FAA and current rules and regs for air travel.

Ah, yes, Senator Bronson Cutting, the crash that every dispatcher should be familar with. Funny how it is that when a Senator or Congressman gets killed, things start happening fast. Another examplke of this would be the Brasilia crash that killed former Senator John Tower, and the subsequent reg changes that brought larger Part 135 operators over to Part 121.

I always associated the changeover from CAA to FAA with the aftermath of the 1956 Grand Canyon midair, since the FAA came into being in 1958...

Mainliner · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:34 am

Wasn't there a 747 (KLM perhaps?) that crashed into a high-rise apartment building?

Andreas · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:36 am

Quoting Gkirk (Thread starter):
Pan Am 103

In Scotland...where else... scratchchin

kiwiandrew · Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:37 am

Quoting Mainliner (Reply 47):
Wasn't there a 747 (KLM perhaps?) that crashed into a high-rise apartment building?

nope it was LY ( see reply #9) - but it did happen in the Netherlands

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