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If you want to talk about airliner crashes, the worst disaster was back in 1977 when a fully loaded KLM B747 crashed into a Pan Am B747 , killing 585 people at Tenerife. Amazingly there were survivors of that runway accident.
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Vividly remember a crash most people never heard about. In 1968 of the shore of Okinawa VP6 lost an aircraft and aircrew 10. I had just returned from R&R in Hong Kong with that crew. We actually overstayed our time due to bad weather and those of us that still had some cash lent it to those that had spent everything. I had lent some ( I think $10 each) to 2 of the aircrew enlisteds. Those two survived and paid me back on payday. Rest of enlisted perished. Made me wish I had had more money to lend. 2 officers also survived. That's 4 of 15. But there were survivors and it did change existing tactics.
Also, ever since I read the flight recording, this one, because of the professionalism of the crew. They somehow manage to momentarily regain control after more or less falling out of the sky. They have to know they are completely hosed, yet they keep trying increasingly improbable fixes all the way to the end, including attempting to fly upside down. The last words before plunging into the ocean, rather than panicked profanity or a frantic prayer, were simply "Here we go." They were still on the clock, actively trying to solve the problem, until literally the last second of their lives.
That's pretty significant. What base? (Vance for UPT here.)
One crash I saw happen was at the inagural Phoenix 500 Air Races at the former Williams AFB. A Corsair suffered an inflight fire and the pilot bailed out successfully. He was injured but OK, but the old warbird was lost.
Also watched two F-16s impact in two separate events due to flameouts (Luke AFB), all personnel ejected. The crashes don't burn for hours like in the movoes, there was just a big fireball and then nothing but a black smear on the desert.
I remember Lockerbie because I was traveling from Venezuela to the US a few days after it happened. The line for security was insane, they were opening up EVERYONE's suitcases and rifling through everything, one person at a time.
I was on a plane once that almost crashed. It was coming in to land at Reagan International airport in Washington, DC. At the last minute landing was aborted, and the plane flew up sharply and to the left. Once we were back in the air the pilot said we were being buffeted by cross winds, and that he had to abort the landing at the last minute. Needless to say, you could hear a pin drop on that plane until we landed. When we did land, everyone exploded into claps and cheers. It was a crazy moment I will never forget.
That's pretty significant. What base? (Vance for UPT here.)
One crash I saw happen was at the inagural Phoenix 500 Air Races at the former Williams AFB. A Corsair suffered an inflight fire and the pilot bailed out successfully. He was injured but OK, but the old warbird was lost.
Also watched two F-16s impact in two separate events due to flameouts (Luke AFB), all personnel ejected. The crashes don't burn for hours like in the movoes, there was just a big fireball and then nothing but a black smear on the desert.
Just thought of another one, when the entire Thunderbirds team augered in in a line in early 1982. I was in Flight School at Pensacola when that happened.
I was on a plane once that almost crashed. It was coming in to land at Reagan International airport in Washington, DC. At the last minute landing was aborted, and the plane flew up sharply and to the left. Once we were back in the air the pilot said we were being buffeted by cross winds, and that he had to abort the landing at the last minute. Needless to say, you could hear a pin drop on that plane until we landed. When we did land, everyone exploded into claps and cheers. It was a crazy moment I will never forget.
I've only been in one aborted landing and it was horrifying. The plane had been delayed close to 12 hours so we were exhausted coming down over Atlanta at about 2AM. I could see the runway beneath us when we pitched up and violently turned. When we were up in the air again, the pilot said that we had come down out of the cloud cover to a plane in the runway. How does that even happen?
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