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I debated on putting this in the aviation forum but there is just too much history involved.
I stayed up late reading about all these on the website. I knew about some of them, like Audie Murphy,Patsy Cline and Buddy Holly. Here are a few of them, you can click on the decade to find out who died and when.
Sept. 17, 1908 Lt.Thomas E.Selfridge. He was the first person in history to die in a plane crash. I remember this on the History Channel, he was flying in a plane piloted by Orville Wright when a propeller came loose and cut the wires bracing the rudder causing the plane to go into a dive. They said he looked over at Orville and the last thing he said was, " Oh Oh."
Aug.30, 1926 Bessie Coleman. She was the first African-American pilot. She was thrown from a plane and fell to her death after a mechanic left a wrench that got stuck in the control gears.
July 4, 1922 Lothar Von Richtofen. He was the brother of the Red Baron who was killed when his plane lost an engine and crashed into some trees.
Sept. 17, 1935 Len Koenecke. He was a major league ballplayer. He was thrown off an American Airlines flight for being drunk then boarded a charter flight where he got into a fight with the pilot and another passenger. After he grabbed the controls the pilot killed him by bashing in his skull with a fire extinguisher.
Sept. 17, 1935 Len Koenecke. He was a major league ballplayer. He was thrown off an American Airlines flight for being drunk then boarded a charter flight where he got into a fight with the pilot and another passenger. After he grabbed the controls the pilot killed him by bashing in his skull with a fire extinguisher.
The above would not seem to fall under the heading of "accident."
Some famous people who have died in aircraft accidents:
Amelia Earhart, aviator
Dag Hammarskjold, U.N. Secretary General
Glenn Miller, bandleader
Knute Rockne, legendary football coach
Leslie Howard, actor ("Ashley" in Gone With the Wind)
Carole Lombard, actress and wife of Clark Gable
Jim Croce, singer-songwriter ("Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown")
Otis Redding, singer ("Dock of the Bay")
Ronnie Van Zant, rocker (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
John F. Kennedy, Jr. (his uncle Joe and aunt Kathleen also died in air crashes)
Paul Mantz, stunt pilot
Bill Graham, rock promoter
Vic Morrow, actor
Stevie Ray Vaughan, rock guitarist
Aaliyah, singer-actress
Payne Stewart, golfer
Rocky Marciano, boxing legend
Paul Wellstone, former Minnesota senator
John Denver, singer-songwriter
Ricky Nelson, singer-actor
Steve Fossett, adventurer
Some famous people who have died in aircraft accidents:
Amelia Earhart, aviator
Dag Hammarskjold, U.N. Secretary General
Glenn Miller, bandleader
Knute Rockne, legendary football coach
Leslie Howard, actor ("Ashley" in Gone With the Wind)
Carole Lombard, actress and wife of Clark Gable
Jim Croce, singer-songwriter ("Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown")
Otis Redding, singer ("Dock of the Bay")
Ronnie Van Zant, rocker (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
John F. Kennedy, Jr. (his uncle Joe and aunt Kathleen also died in air crashes)
Paul Mantz, stunt pilot
Bill Graham, rock promoter
Vic Morrow, actor
Stevie Ray Vaughan, rock guitarist
Aaliyah, singer-actress
Payne Stewart, golfer
Rocky Marciano, boxing legend Paul Wellstone, former Minnesota senator
John Denver, singer-songwriter
Ricky Nelson, singer-actor
Steve Fossett, adventurer
I knew two people who died in that crash.
I can think of other politicians who died in air crashes - Senator John Heinz, in 1991 (he was aboard a helicopter which collided with a small plane) and two Congressmen who were aboard an airplane that disappeared in Alaska in 1972 - one was Hale Boggs, House Majority Leader and Warren Commission member - yeah, you can imagine the number of wild-eyed conspiracy theories that emerged from that one).
Lots of musicians and athletes on there as well. Just goes to show which groups of people fly a lot (especially in small private planes and chartered aircraft, which go down at a much higher rate than airliners).
Remember in the early 70s when it seemed like there was a hijacking every few weeks ? Hanley and Barklage didn't die but they became famous locally in St.Louis for their efforts in a couple of hijackings.
Some famous people who have died in aircraft accidents:
Amelia Earhart, aviator
Dag Hammarskjold, U.N. Secretary General
Glenn Miller, bandleader
Knute Rockne, legendary football coach
Leslie Howard, actor ("Ashley" in Gone With the Wind)
Carole Lombard, actress and wife of Clark Gable
Jim Croce, singer-songwriter ("Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown")
Otis Redding, singer ("Dock of the Bay")
Ronnie Van Zant, rocker (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
John F. Kennedy, Jr. (his uncle Joe and aunt Kathleen also died in air crashes)
Paul Mantz, stunt pilot
Bill Graham, rock promoter
Vic Morrow, actor
Stevie Ray Vaughan, rock guitarist
Aaliyah, singer-actress
Payne Stewart, golfer
Rocky Marciano, boxing legend
Paul Wellstone, former Minnesota senator
John Denver, singer-songwriter
Ricky Nelson, singer-actor
Steve Fossett, adventurer
Will Rogers...Ken Hubbs...Thurman Munson..Buddy Holly..Patsy Cline...Yuri Gagarin..Mrs. Howard Hunt..
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