Plane Crash Events

1913 Sep 9 Helgoland Island Air Disaster
The Helgoland Island Air Disaster occurred on September 9, 1913, and is traditionally considered the first air disaster involving more than ten fatalities. A German Navy Zeppelin L-1 airs...
1922 Apr 7 First Mid-Air Collision of Airliners
On April 7, 1922 the first midair collision of commercial airliners took place some 70 miles North of Paris. The aircraft involved were a deHaviland DH-18A and a Farman F-60, also known ...
1930 Oct 5 The British Airship R101 Crashes and Kills 48 in the Ensuing Fire
R101 was a British rigid airship completed in 1929 as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme. After initial flights, and two enlargements to the lifting volume, it crashed on 5 October 1930 ...
1931 Mar 21 Australian National Airways Southern Cloud Crashes into Snowy Moutains, Killing 8
On 21 March 1931, the Southern Cloud departed at 8:10 AM from Sydney for Melbourne. Onboard were six passengers and two crewmembers, including pilot Travis "Shorty" Shortridge. Weather co...
1931 Mar 31 Transcontinental & Western Air Flight 599 Crashes, Killing 8
Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 599 was a Fokker F.10 Trimotor en route from Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California, on March 31, 1931. It crashed ten miles south of Co...
1933 Mar 28 The City of Liverpool Aeroplane Crashes, Killing 15
In a field near Eesen, Belgium, fortnight ago a peasant looked up from his spring radishes to see the Imperial Airways liner City of Liverpool suddenly burst into flames and crash like a ...
1935 Oct 7 United Airlines Trip 4 Crashes, Killing 12
United Airlines Trip 4, a Boeing 247D, was a scheduled flight departing from Salt Lake City, Utah to Cheyenne, Wyoming on October 7, 1935. The aircraft last contacted Cheyenne at 2:16 or ...
1937 Jan 12 Western Air Express Flight 7 Crashes, Killing 5
On January 12, 1937, shortly after 11 a.m. in adverse weather, Western Air Express Flight 7 crashed into a ridge below Los Pinetos Peak near the California towns of Saugus and Newhall. Th...
1937 Nov 16 Sabena OO-AUB Ostend Crash, Killing 12
A Junkers Ju 52 aircraft owned and operated by Belgian air operator Sabena crashed near Ostend, Belgium on November 16, 1937. The flight from Cologne, Germany, to London, United Kingdom, ...
1938 Jan 10 Northwest Airlines Flight 2 Crashes into the Bridger Mountains, Killing 10
Northwest Airlines Flight 2, registration NC17388, was a Lockheed 14H Super Electra aircraft which crashed into the Bridger Mountains about 12 miles northeast of Bozeman, Montana, on Janu...
1938 Oct 25 Kyeema Crash
The 1938 Kyeema crash occurred on the western face of Mount Corhanwarrabul, just south of Mount Dandenong, Victoria, Australia. On 25 October 1938, eighteen people were killed when the Ky...
1938 Nov 4 Jersey Airport Disaster of 1938
In the late 1930s Islanders were becoming increasingly familiar with civilian air travel, but a terrible accident in 1938 served as a harsh reminder that the passenger aircraft of the day...
1940 Aug 31 Lovettsville Air Disaster
The DC-3 had hit the ground with such speed and force that many of the passengers had been cut in two by their safety belts. Jerome Lederer, director of the Civil Aeronautics Board’s safe...
1941 Feb 26 Eastern Airlines Flight 31 Crashes, Killing 16
Eastern Airlines Flight 21, night of February 26, 1941. Sometimes called the “Rickenbacker Crash” due to the presence of Eastern Airlines President and former WWI ace Eddie Rickenbacker o...
1942 Jan 16 Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 3 Crashes into a Cliff, Killing 22
Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA) Flight 3 was a twin-engine Douglas DC-3-382 propliner, registration NC1946, operating as a scheduled domestic passenger flight from New York, NY to ...
1942 Oct 23 U.S. Army Corps B-34 Bomber Strikes American Airlines Flight 28
American Airlines Flight 28 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight that crashed on October 23, 1942 in Chino Canyon, near Palm Springs, California after being struck by a U.S. Army Air...
1943 Jan 21 Philippine Clipper Crashes into Mountainous Terrain, Killing 19
This is the story of the last flight of the “Philippine Clipper” which crashed on the California coast near Booneville after arriving from Honolulu, Hawaii. On board that final fligh...
1943 Jun 1 British Overseas Airways Corporation Flight 777a is Attacked by Eight German Junker Ju 88's
BOAC Flight 777a, a scheduled British Overseas Airways Corporation civilian airline flight on 1 June 1943 from Portela Airport in Lisbon, Portugal to Whitchurch Airport near Bristol, Unit...
1943 Jul 28 American Airlines' Flagship Ohio Crashes, Killing 18
Flight 63 originated at and left Cleveland about 17:42.The flight was cleared to Memphis with intermediate stops scheduled at Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Louisville and Nashville. The D...
1943 Oct 15 American Airlines' Flagship Missouri Crashes, Killing 11
Flight 63 originated at Cleveland at 17:56, 17 minutes later than the scheduled departure. Intermediate stops were made at Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, and at Louisville. Accumulated del...
1944 Feb 10 American Airlines Flight 2 Crashes, Killing 24
The DC-3 struck the Mississippi River in an angle of descent of about 20 degrees with the right wing slightly low. PROBABLE CAUSE: "The Board is unable to determine the probable cause ...
1944 Jun 20 Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 277 Crashes on Fort Mountain
Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 277 was a C-54 Skymaster en route from Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador to Washington D.C. on June 20, 1944. The aircraft crashed on Fort Mo...
1945 Jun 13 USAAF B-24 Liberator Bomber Crashes into Fairy Loches
On the 13th June 1945 a USAAF B-24H Liberator with 9 crew and 6 US army passengers took off from Prestwick for home, having survived the War. The exact events are unknown but it appears t...
1945 Jul 12 Eastern Airlines Flight 45 Collides with a USAFF A-26 Invader Bomber
Eastern Air Lines Flight 45 was in straight flight and letting down at approximately 200 feet per minute toward Columbia, SC. At the same time a US Army Douglas A-26C-35-DT Invader plane ...
1945 Oct 5 National Airlines Flight 16 Lands in Water
National Airlines Flight 16 was a domestic (U.S.), scheduled passenger flight from Miami, Florida, to Lakeland, Florida, that crashed on 5 October 1945. The aircraft was on the last leg o...
1946 Jul 11 Transcontinental and Western Air's Star of Lisbon Crashes
TWA Flight 513, registration NC86513, Star of Lisbon, was a Lockheed Constellation operated by Transcontinental and Western Air on a training flight on July 11, 1946 when it crashed near ...
1947 Aug 2 British South American Airways' Star Dust Disappears
On August 2, 1947, Stardust's radio operator sent a final message in Morse code to the Chilean radio operator then on duty in Santiago. The full message sent at 17.41 hrs was as follows: ...
1948 Jan 28 Plane Chartered by the U.S. Immigration Services Crashes
On January 28, 1948, a twin-engine DC-3C chartered by the U.S. Immigration Service from Airline Transport Carriers of Burbank, California crashed in western Fresno County's Los Gatos Cany...
1948 Mar 12 Northwest Airlines Flight 4422 Crashes, Killing 30
Northwest flight 4422 was a non-scheduled charter flight en route from Shanghai-Lunghwa Airport to La Guardia Field. An intermediate stop was made at Anchorage. Take-off from Anchorage wa...
1948 Apr 5 Gatow Air Disaster of 1948
The aircraft was circling Gatow in preparation for landing when the DC-3 collided head on with the Russian Air Force Yakovlev 3 fighter, which was performing aerobatics. A total of 14 kil...
1948 Jun 17 United Airlines Flight 624 Crashes, Killing 43
The airplane, named "Mainliner Utah", arrived in Chicago at 09:52 en route from Los Angeles to New York. After a 52-minute turnaround, the DC-6 departed for New York. The airplane climbed...
1948 Aug 29 Northwest Airlines Flight 421 Crashes, Killing 37
Northwest Airlines Flight 421 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Chicago, Illinois to Minneapolis, Minnesota that crashed on 29 August 1948. The Martin 2-0-2 aircraft, operate...
1948 Oct 2 Bukken Bruse Disaster
The Bukken Bruse disaster was the crash of a flying boat upon landing at Hommelvika in Malvik municipality, nearby Trondheim, Trøndelag, Norway, on October 2, 1948. The disaster killed 19...
1948 Oct 20 KLM Constellation Air Disaster
Take-off from Schiphol was planned at 20:00 on 20 October 1948 for a flight to New York via Prestwick, with as alternative Shannon, Ireland. The Constellation PH-TEN Nijmegen, with thirty...
1949 Sep 9 Albert Guay Affair
On this date in 1951, Albert Guay was hanged in Canada for one of the earliest commercial airline attacks — bombing a Canadian Pacific Airline flight to murder his wife. Stuck in a lov...
1949 Nov 20 Hurum Air Disaster
The Hurum air disaster was an Aero Holland plane crash in Hurum southwest of Oslo, Norway as it was approaching Fornebu Airport on 20 November 1949. The plane, a Douglas DC-3 with tail...
1949 Nov 29 American Airlines Flight 157 Crashes, Killing 28
American Airlines Flight 157, a Douglas DC-6, was flying on November 29, 1949 from New York City bound for Mexico City with 46 passengers and crew. After one engine failed in mid-flight, ...
1950 Sep 1 TWA Flight 903 Crashes
TWA Flight 903 from Bombay, India to New York was carried out by TWA's Constellation "Star of Maryland". Departure from Bombay was at 08:34, August 30 and arrival at Cairo at 22:17. A com...
1958 Oct 26 The Southern Cloud's Crash Site is Discovered
The wreckage was not discovered until October 1958 and the fate of the aircraft, its crew and passengers ascertained. The loss of the "Southern Cloud" was regarded as one of Australia's ...
1959 Feb 3 The Day the Music Died: Buddy Holly Richie Valens and the Big Bopper J.P. Richardson die in plane crash
Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) died in a plane crash in Iowa. Don McClean called this "The Day the Music Died" in his 1971 song "American Pie."
1961 Nov 23 Aerolineas Argentinas Flight 322 Crashes
Aerolineas Argentinas Flight 322 was the flight number of a scheduled international passenger flight from Buenos Aires to Trinidad and New York City via Campinas, Brazil, which crashed an...
1975 Jun 24 Eastern Airlines Flight 66 Strikes Rockaway Boulevard
Eastern Air Lines Flight 66, a Boeing 727-225 with registration number N8845E, departed from New Orleans Moisant Field, bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport on the afternoon of...
1987 Aug 16 Northwest Airlines Flight 255 Crashes After Take-off
Northwest Airlines Flight 255 was a flight that originated in Saginaw, Michigan, United States's MBS International Airport and was scheduled to terminate at John Wayne Airport in Santa An...
1988 Dec 21 Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was a transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to JFK Internation Airport in New York City. The flight was taking place on Wednesday December 21, 1988 when a b...
1992 Jan 20 Air Inter Flight 148 Crashes, Killing 87
Air Inter Flight 148 was a scheduled airline flight on 20 January 1992 that crashed in the Vosges Mountains, near Mont Sainte-Odile, while circling to land at Strasbourg Airport. 87 of th...
1992 Sep 28 Pakistan International Airline's Flight 268 Crashes, Killing 167
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268 was an Airbus A300B4-203, registration AP-BCP, which crashed on approach to Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport on 28 September 1992. Al...
2001 Mar 29 Avjet Aspen Crash
The 2001 Avjet Aspen crash occurred on March 29, 2001 when a chartered Avjet Corporation Gulfstream III business jet, registration N303GA, crashed into terrain while on instrument approac...
2007 Mar 7 Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 Crashes
Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 (GA200) was the scheduled domestic passenger flight of a Boeing 737-497 operated by Garuda Indonesia between Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The aircraft cr...
2007 May 5 Kenya Airways Flight 507 Crashes, Killing 114
A Kenya Airways plane that crashed after takeoff in Cameroon with 114 people on board is largely submerged in a swamp and there is no chance of survivors, Cameroon's civil protection serv...
2008 Sep 14 Aeroflot Flight 821 Crashes, Killing 88
Aeroflot Flight 821, operated by Aeroflot-Nord in a service agreement with Aeroflot and as its subsidiary, crashed on approach to Perm Airport on 14 September 2008 at 5:09:25. All 82 pass...