Aviation Accident Summary Archive

Alaska Airlines Flight 779, a Military Air Transport Service (MATS) charter originating at Paine Field and stopping at Travis AFB and Anchorage, was carrying 25,999 pounds of cargo to Tachikawa, Japan. It crashed 200 feet short of the runway at Shemya Air Force Base during a Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) in heavy fog. The investigation determined that critical airfield lighting, including the red approach lights and the first four pairs of runway lights, were inoperative at the time of the accident. The flight crew was never notified of these deficiencies during their stop in Anchorage, and the GCA controller failed to provide positive guidance when the aircraft drifted below the glidepath during the final stages of the approach.

Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT)

Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 644 disintegrated in mid-air after encountering severe turbulence and cumulonimbus clouds while cruising at 15,700 feet. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-6, was flying south from Buenos Aires when it entered a zone of extreme weather that imposed loads exceeding the airframe's design limits. This resulted in the separation of the right wing, followed by a steep dive and high-speed impact with the ground near Pardo. All 67 people on board were killed. At the time of the occurrence, it was the deadliest aviation disaster in Argentine history and remains the deadliest accident in the airline's history.

Weather

A ČSA Ilyushin Il-18V crashed during an attempted diversion to Casablanca-Anfa Airport due to poor weather at its intended stop in Rabat. The aircraft struck the ground approximately 8 miles from the runway threshold. While the cause remains officially undetermined, the investigation's primary hypothesis was that the crew may have been attempting a 'fast let-down' in conditions of low visibility and deteriorating ceilings to maintain visual contact with the ground. All 72 passengers and crew were killed in the accident, which occurred just months after another ČSA flight with the same number crashed in West Germany.

Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT)

United Airlines Flight 859 veered off the runway and ignited after the port side engines failed to deploy their thrust reversers during landing at Stapleton International Airport. The aircraft had experienced a hydraulic failure earlier in the flight, but the landing was expected to be routine. Upon touchdown, the asymmetrical thrust caused by the failure of the left-side reverser buckets sent the plane into a construction zone, where it struck airport vehicles and ruptured a fuel tank. The accident resulted in 18 fatalities: 17 people on board and one person on the ground. The majority of deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning due to the post-crash fire.

Mechanical Failure

KLM Flight 823, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashed into high ground approximately 4 kilometers south of Cairo International Airport during a night approach. The aircraft was on the third leg of a multi-stop journey from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur (with scheduled stops in Munich, Rome, Cairo, and Karachi) when it struck a hill while performing a right-hand circuit to align with runway 34. The impact caused the aircraft to break into two sections and catch fire, resulting in the deaths of 20 of the 36 occupants. Investigators determined the pilot-in-command failed to monitor his flight instruments effectively during the visual maneuvering phase, allowing the aircraft to descend below the safe glide path.

Pilot Error

Air France Flight 406 disintegrated in mid-air over the Sahara Desert following the detonation of a nitrocellulose explosive device in the tail section. The Lockheed L-1649A Starliner, named De Grasse, was cruising at 20,000 feet when the explosion caused the empennage to fail, leading to a total structural breakup. All 78 occupants, including several high-ranking government officials from the Central African Republic and 18 children, were killed. The crash remains the deadliest accident involving the Lockheed Starliner type.

Security / Sabotage

A LAN-Chile Douglas DC-3 carrying members of the Green Cross professional football team crashed into the Andes mountains during the final leg of a domestic flight from Castro to Santiago. The aircraft disappeared after departing Temuco, following a crew report of icing conditions on the wings and propellers. While search teams located the tail section and some remains shortly after the disappearance in 1961, the main fuselage remained missing for over 50 years until it was rediscovered by mountaineers in 2015 at an altitude of approximately 3,200 meters. The accident resulted in the deaths of all 24 people on board, including eight players and the team's coach.

Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT)

CSA Flight 511 was a scheduled international flight from Prague that crashed in West Germany on March 28, 1961. The aircraft, an Ilyushin Il-18V, was in the cruise phase of its flight when it entered a steep descent and broke apart before impacting the ground near Nuremberg. All 52 passengers and crew on board were killed. While the investigation suggested structural failure due to high-speed aerodynamic loads, the exact trigger for the initial loss of control remained a subject of debate between Western and Soviet-bloc investigators.

Structural Failure

Aeroflot Flight 068 crashed onto the frozen surface of Nizhneisetsky Pond after the crew inadvertently shut down their only functioning engine following a mechanical failure in the other. Shortly after takeoff from a stopover in Sverdlovsk, the right engine suffered a compressor blade failure, causing severe airframe vibrations. Unable to read their instruments due to the shaking, a crew member manipulated the left engine's throttle to identify the source of the trouble but accidentally shut it down. The aircraft lost all power and performed a forced landing on the ice, eventually sliding ashore and striking a holiday home and trees.

Human Factors (CRM)

A United States Air Force B-52F Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 thermonuclear bombs crashed near Yuba City after suffering a cabin pressurization failure and subsequent fuel exhaustion. During the flight, extreme cockpit heat caused a window to shatter, forcing the crew to descend to 12,000 feet. This lower altitude significantly increased fuel consumption. A stuck fuel gauge led to a delay in requesting a tanker, and all eight engines flamed out before a successful aerial refueling could be completed. All eight crew members ejected safely, and the nuclear weapons did not detonate or leak radiation despite being severely damaged upon impact.

Mechanical Failure

Sabena Flight 548 crashed during a go-around at Brussels Airport after the flight crew experienced a sudden loss of control. The aircraft performed three 360-degree turns with increasing bank angles before pitching up abruptly, stalling, and diving into a field in Kampenhout. All 72 people on board were killed, including the entire 18-member U.S. Figure Skating team. One person on the ground was also killed, bringing the total death toll to 73. While the investigation could not definitively prove the cause, the most plausible theory was a mechanical failure of the horizontal stabilizer adjustment mechanism.

Mechanical Failure

A Boeing 707-123 on a training flight crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Montauk Point after a sudden loss of control. The aircraft was observed in a steep, left wing low dive before impacting shallow water near Napeague Beach. Despite evidence suggesting the crew may have been practicing specific maneuvers such as a canyon approach or engine-out climbs, investigators could not determine the exact sequence of events that led to the dive. The accident resulted in the death of all six crew members and led to significant changes in FAA training requirements for the Boeing 707.

Other

A United States Air Force B-52G Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 nuclear bombs suffered a catastrophic structural failure of the right wing and broke up in mid-air near Goldsboro, North Carolina. The aircraft was performing a routine airborne alert mission when a fuel leak in the right wing led to a loss of control and subsequent disintegration at approximately 8,000 feet. Three crew members were killed. During the breakup, both nuclear weapons were released; one bomb's parachute deployed, and it was recovered largely intact, while the second bomb impacted the ground at high speed and broke apart. Declassified documents later revealed that one of the bombs came within a single safety switch of a multi-megaton nuclear detonation.

Structural Failure

Aero Flight 311 crashed into a forest during its approach to Vaasa, killing all 25 people on board in the deadliest aviation accident in Finnish history. The investigation determined that both the captain and first officer were severely intoxicated, having consumed a significant amount of alcohol and obtained very little sleep the night before the flight. During the final stages of the flight, the crew flew at dangerously low altitudes before an abrupt left turn caused the aircraft to stall and enter a spin from which they could not recover.

Pilot Error

A United States Air Force C-131D Samaritan crashed into a crowded Munich city street shortly after takeoff due to engine failure caused by fuel starvation. The aircraft clipped the steeple of St. Paul's Church before striking a streetcar at the corner of Bayerstrasse and Martin-Greif-Strasse. All 20 occupants on the aircraft were killed, along with 32 people on the ground.

Mechanical Failure

A United Airlines Douglas DC-8 and a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation collided over Staten Island while navigating toward their respective New York airports. The United jet, suffering from a failed radio receiver, overshot its assigned holding pattern at high speed and entered the airspace assigned to the TWA flight. The TWA aircraft crashed onto Staten Island, while the United DC-8 continued for several miles before crashing into the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. All 128 people on both aircraft and six people on the ground were killed.

Pilot Error · Multi-aircraft

A chartered Curtiss C-46F Commando carrying the Cal Poly Mustangs football team crashed and burned shortly after a premature lift-off in zero-visibility fog. The aircraft was approximately 2,000 pounds over its maximum certificated gross takeoff weight and suffered a partial power loss in its left engine during the climb. The accident resulted in the deaths of 22 people, including 16 players, and led to new FAA regulations regarding minimum visibility requirements for commercial takeoffs.

Human Factors (Operational)

Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 crashed into Winthrop Bay shortly after takeoff from Logan International Airport after encountering a massive flock of starlings. The birds were ingested into three of the four engines, causing a total power loss on engine one and temporary thrust reductions on engines two and four. The resulting asymmetric thrust and loss of airspeed led to a stall and roll from which the crew could not recover.

Bird Strike

An Itavia de Havilland Heron crashed into the slopes of Mount Capanne on the island of Elba during a flight from Rome to Genoa. All 11 people on board were killed when the aircraft struck the mountain at an altitude of 728 meters in conditions of poor visibility and heavy rain. Although some sources describe it as a twin-engine aircraft, the DH-114 Heron is a four-engine light transport.

Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT)

Austrian Airlines Flight 901 crashed into a wooded area 11 kilometers short of Sheremetyevo International Airport during a night approach to runway 07. The flight, which had originated in Vienna and made a stopover in Warsaw, was flying significantly lower than the crew believed, eventually striking trees at a height of approximately 20 meters above the ground. The investigation determined the primary factor was a discrepancy in altimeter settings between the captain and first officer, leading to an erroneous perception of altitude. Despite the aircraft appearing normal on radar until it descended below glide path coverage, the crew failed to maintain the minimum prescribed altitude of 200 meters before reaching the non-directional beacon.

Human Factors (Operational)

World Airways Flight 830, a military charter flight, crashed into Mount Barrigada shortly after taking off from Agana Naval Air Station in Guam. The aircraft struck the mountain approximately 300 feet above the airfield elevation and slid through dense underbrush before being consumed by fire. The investigation revealed that the pilot failed to follow the published departure procedure, which required a climb to 1,000 feet before initiating a turn. The accident resulted in 80 fatalities, making it the deadliest aviation disaster in Guam's history at the time.

Pilot Error

Air France Flight 343 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during a second aborted landing attempt at Yoff Airport in Dakar, Senegal. The aircraft encountered severe weather, including rain squalls and thunderstorms, with rapidly changing visibility. After declining an instrument landing system approach on a different runway, the pilot attempted a second visual approach to runway 01. The aircraft overflew the airport and entered a rain squall before striking the water at a steep angle approximately one mile offshore. All 63 people on board were killed, and only 20 percent of the wreckage was recovered from a depth of 130 feet (40 meters).

Unknown

Chicago Helicopter Airways Flight 698 crashed into Forest Home Cemetery after a main rotor blade fractured in flight, leading to the total structural disintegration of the aircraft. The Sikorsky S-58C was performing a short scheduled shuttle between Midway and O'Hare when witnesses heard a sound like a bullwhip cracking, followed by the separation of the tail cone. The investigation revealed that a fatigue crack had developed in the spar of one main rotor blade, originating from deep sanding scratches left during the manufacturing process. All 13 people on board were killed when the helicopter struck the ground at 22:38 and burst into flames.

Structural Failure

On July 20, 1960, an Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-14M operating a scheduled passenger service from Leningrad to Syktyvkar encountered severe turbulence and thunderstorm activity. The aircraft suffered a structural failure and broke up in mid-air, crashing approximately 100 kilometers from its destination. All 23 people on board were killed.

Weather