2 crashes I remember Tenerife and San Diego (jet, Boeing)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I saw a documentary of Tenerife, very chilling. The worst thing is that it sounds like the disaster could've easily been prevented with some better equipment
I don't remember either of them because I was too young (I am familiar with both, though).
But I grew up in the 1980s, and what I remember is that airliner crashes were far more common. Crashes of big aircraft - not just smaller, regional jets but the Boeing 7xx's and the DC-10s and the like - with death tolls in the many dozens to hundreds were relatively common and often happened multiple times per year, just counting domestic incidents (ie, here in the U.S.).
Air Florida in the Potomac
The one in Detroit where only a little girl survived
That one that crashed in L.A. after a collision with a smaller aircraft
The one that burned on the runway in Cincinnati
The Dallas crash (wind sheer, IIRC)
And, of course, the incredible flight that ended in the crash-landing in Sioux City
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.
The Air Florida and Sioux City incidents are particularly memorable because of the video of the aftermath and the crash itself, respectively - it was much less likely to have such recordings back then.
Anyway, now crashes of the big boys are extremely rare. There was that incident in San Francisco last year where I think 3 died, and that was the first hull-loss incident in the U.S. of a large airliner in years, I believe. And I don't think there's been a 100-fatality crash (or a toll anywhere close to that) in the U.S. since that plane went down on New York in late 2001. And it's not just here. The safety of flying seems to have diminished around the world, though it is clearly more common on a per/flight basis in less-developed countries.
I remember many more crashes than those. TWA 800 and Pan Am over Lockerbie are two that weren't mentioned. The only one I saw personally, was the NWA crash in Detroit in '87. I saw it after the crash, while it was still burning.
The girl who survived the NWA crash went on to be part of a documentary called "Sole Survivor". Also in the movie is the copilot of the Kentucky Comair accident.
I remember several crashes, including the ones in Tenerife in 1977, where 2 Boeing 747s collided when one was taking off and the other was taxiing. The crash in San Diego, in September of 1978, which has one picture while the flight crew of the 727 were struggling to keep it in the air. Seeing the picture of it banking sharply, and with the starboard wing on fire, it certainly give me a gut wrenching feeling that's hard to explain because you know that those were final moments of the lives of many people, it's the same thing with others that were either captured on video or with a picture, in particular, the 3 Boeing 767 crashes that were caused by terrorists hijacking the aircraft, the Ethiopian Airlines one that was ditched in the Indian Ocean in 1996, and the other two (American and United Airlines) that were crashed into the World Trade Center towers on September 11th, 2001.
There was also the Egypt Airlines 767 crash in October of 1999, which was suspected to have been caused by the relief first officer by intentionally taking the aircraft down into the Atlantic Ocean. That was the NTSB's conclusion, but Egyptian officials tried to blame the elevator control system of the aircraft failing, which would have been highly unlikely because the first officer should have known about the redundant/backup system, and it would have been activated if the first officer did not want to bring the aircraft down intentionally.
Two other notable crashes that I remember - The American Airlines DC-10 that crashed just after it lifted off the ground when the port-side engine suddenly detached, the cause of that crash was faulty maintenance procedures. The Air France Concorde that also crashed just after lifting off in July of 2000, and that was caused by a piece of metal strip that was on the runway, which came off a Continental Airlines DC-10 that had taken off minutes earlier. The metal strip came off the number 3 engine and caused the Concorde's tire damage, and debris caused damage to one of the Concorde's fuel tanks. A fire broke out from the fuel that was leaking out, the Concorde failed to gain altitude, and it eventually stalled and crashed into a building near the airport.
Mike the AA flight you mention(AA flt 191) was the nations deadliest single plane accident with 273 fatalities (I think AA 587 on 11/12/2001 was the second deadliest with 265)
i could be wrong but i think that the flight # 191 was permanently retired due to its being associated with too many accidents. i think there was a flight 191 in 1972 where something happened, then in August 1985 Delta 191 crashed from windshear, then last year there was some kind of issue on Jet Blue 191 where one of the pilots went crazy
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
