Attempts to take off have been undertaken by people from time immemorial. Remember even the legendary Daedalus and his son. True, their experiments were crowned with dubious success. Times have changed: now a wingless person flies in any directions and as much as he wants. But people were never able to take to the air on their own, so aircraft accidents often have very tragic consequences.
Plane crashes: world statistics
Freely quoting Ilf and Petrov, it is worth noting that the statistics know everything: how many mattresses, toys, chairs are in the world and, of course, it takes into account the number of air accidents that have occurred.
Well-known statistical companies have calculated the number of victims of air crashes since 1945. It turned out that during this period America became the leader in human casualties. Why such disappointing statistics of plane crashes in the USA, it is not difficult to guess. Indeed, in this highly developed country, passenger traffic and the number of air traffic are several times greater than in another region.
US Air Force Fighter Crash
The main attention of the public is drawn to air crashes associated with huge civilian airliners, accompanied by a significant number of victims. But often there are accidents with helicopters, fighters, belonging, in particular, to the military forces of America.
For example, in 2003, a Black Hook military helicopter crashed while making a training flight. An accident occurred in the Ford Dam area, a base located near the Canadian border. Onboard there were 13 military personnel, of which only two remained alive.
In February of the same year, “Provler” with three pilots on board fell from the deck of an aircraft carrier due to a failure of the brake system. Two people at the last moment managed to catapult, and the third was rescued from the surface of nearby waters.
In January 2003, the Tomket fighter crashed before it reached the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Caribbean. The plane crashed just 1 thousand meters from the target. Pilots successfully ejected. The causes of the accident are being established.
Two combat helicopters crashed near the border with Mexico, in southern Texas, under cover of night darkness. Four reservist marines died. It is noteworthy that the operation to capture drug couriers ended so ingloriously and tragically. Helicopter registration address: Camp Pendleton Base.
December 2002 was marked by a clash of Tweety Bird training aircraft in the sky over southern Oklahoma. Fortunately, the pilots survived, and one side even returned to the training base on its own.
On a winter night in 2002, a helicopter carrying out training drills crashed in the vicinity of the Fort Raker base. The pilots did not survive.
Two American attack aircraft collided over Nevada. One pilot died. Fortunately, the second catapulted in time.
In October 2002, two of the newest fighters from the Limor base crashed over the California coast. The bodies of the pilots have not yet been found.
F-16 bombers collided over Utah. One pilot survived, the remains of another were found some distance from the scene of the accident.
Disasters involving small ships
Air crashes in the United States are not limited to the fall of military aircraft. Often, small private airliners crash, which fail due to breakdowns, or a human flaw comes into effect. One of the most notorious cases was the death of Senator Paul Wellstone along with his wife, daughter and three employees. The plane of a politician crashed in October 2002, at about 10 pm, not far from Evelet-Virginia Airport.
In the remaining cases of the crash, which occurred in light single-engine, twin-engine aircraft over forests or residential areas, there were no casualties, excluding several disasters. In particular, in 2002 in New Mexico there was a plane crash on the highway. Having broken wires, he collapsed, while the pilots died. No one was hurt on earth.
In January 2003, a single and twin engine aircraft collided. They crashed into a residential area of Denver. Four people were killed (crews onboard), and on the ground 6 people were injured of various degrees of severity.
Also a unique case occurred in Los Angeles. The plane destroyed part of the house and crashed into the garage, while the pilot died, and the child watching TV in the room was not injured.
Another notable accident occurred at the airport of Charlotte, which is located in South Carolina. The pilot tried to save the situation by diving towards the hangar, but nonetheless 19 people were killed.
An incomprehensible attack on the Federal Bank of America turned into a disaster. In fact, the pilot and manager of a well-known company were heading for a Christmas party, and the fact that the plane crashed on a reserve bank in Miami was an accident. The building was not seriously damaged, but 2 people on board died.
Over Oklahoma, a board crashed with six people who died before flying to Makalister Airport literally a few meters.
America's Top Ten Air Crash
Major air crashes in the United States, of course, are more noticeable, no matter what year they happen, because the trouble does not count with the chronology. The first three places of this sad rating should be emphasized, which we will do a little later.
In the meantime, it will be enough to name the largest air crash in the United States, which brought together the largest harvest of human casualties.
- The first place is occupied by the terrible terrorist attack that occurred in September 2001. A total of 2846 people died in this monstrous disaster.
- The second is the Chicago accident that happened in May of distant 1979. Killed 273 passengers, including crew members.
- On the third - the crash of the airbus in November 2001. Killed: 265 people.
- In 1996, a Boeing 747 en route to Rome exploded over the Atlantic a few minutes after takeoff. After investigating and decrypting data from the flight recorders, the reason was established: fatal malfunctions in the wiring. The fatal flight 800 claimed the lives of 230 people.
- In 1987, the McDonnell Douglas airliner, due to improper crew actions, crashed into the overpass immediately after an unsuccessful take-off. He was supposed to fly from Detroit, Michigan to Phoenix. As a result, 156 people died, including 2 victims on earth. A miraculous salvation can be called the fact that the only passenger, a four-year-old girl named Cecilia, remained alive.
- The Boeing 727, the next in Las Vegas, crashed in 1982 in Kenner. U.S. air crashes replenished with another serious event that claimed 153 human lives. After the plane crashed, the black box was naturally decrypted. According to the results of an information analysis, the reason for the fall of the side, rising above the ground by no more than 40 meters, was made public. It became invisible, but significant airborne microbursts that fatally affected takeoff.
- September 1978 The largest plane crash in California. Boeing 727 and Chesna 127 collided in the air. It happened in the sky over San Diego. Aircraft crashed into a residential quarter. The number of victims amounted to 144 people. Again the cause of the accident was human carelessness.
- In August 1985, a Lockheed airliner exploded in Dallas from being hit by a water tower. This was preceded by strong turbulence. As a result, 135 people died and 30, mostly on the ground, were injured.
- On a December morning in 1960, two airliners crashed into New York: Douglas and Lockheed. They collided when landing, which caused a fire in the fall in the Brooklyn area. 134 people are considered dead. The official version of the disaster was the failure of navigation equipment.
- In 1994, an airplane crashed near Pittsburgh. The black box, which was discovered by experts and decrypted his data, did not help to find out the cause of the disaster. But further troubles with the other side revealed the truth: the Boeing 737 jammed the steering wheel in the left position. 132 people did not reach Florida.
Crash? No - a terrorist attack!
And now it is worthwhile to dwell in more detail on the most terrible disaster provoked by the monstrous terrorist attack of 2001. Despite the fact that air accidents, in particular, air accidents in the United States, often occur, the world has not seen a more arrogant and terrible attack.
The Boeing 767, which was captured by Al-Qaeda Islamist Muhammad Atta and his associates, crashed into the northern building of the marketing center in New York at about 9 a.m. on September 11. Soon, the south tower is attacked by a Boeing, stolen by a fanatic Marwan Al-Shekhhi. Between the fatal clashes, 17 minutes passed. In parallel with these sides, two more planes were captured, one of which was aimed at the Pentagon, and the second at the Capitol. But only the first achieved the goal, the second crashed in Pennsylvania. The Boeing 757 was led by Henie Hanjor, a terrorist from Saudi Arabia. He directed the board to the western part of the military center. The estimated number of victims is 189. Humanity will never forget this terrible event.
Chicago nightmare
Studying the disasters of civil aviation, it is impossible not to take into account the terrible tragedy that occurred in May 1979. This accident before the terrorist attack on the towers of the VTsT was the largest in the history of North America. The Douglas airliner crashed 30 seconds after it took off. Due to the separation of the engine and damage to the left wing, the aircraft tipped and fell onto the trailer fleet, followed by a terrible explosion. The catastrophe killed 273 people. The error was caused by the technical staff of the airport.
Airbus: fateful seconds over Queens
Another disaster occurred in 2001, a month after the New York terrorist attacks. The Airbus 300, flying out of Kennedy Airport, crashed shortly after taking off. The vibrant New York area, Queens, was badly damaged by the fall of the liner. A total of 265 people died. The cause of the crash is not fully known, but experts suggest that it could be a pilot error or excessive turbulence.
Along with the official version, there are mystical assumptions. The fact is that there were two people aboard the Airbus who miraculously escaped death during the September 11 attacks. Here, allegedly, God's hand was late, but still overtook them. Is this so, remains a mystery.
The Last Decade of US Civil Aviation
Over the past 10 years, there have been many terrible accidents in the world, but plane accidents in the United States, by a lucky chance, did not have too terrible consequences, although there were casualties. During this period, 14 crashes occurred. The most tragic were:
- August 2006: Airliner crashed in Kentucky, crashed almost instantly after leaving the runway; 49 people died;
- February 2009: 50 casualties after a plane crashes into a residential building in the Buffalo area.
Fortunately, the crash in the United States over the past 10 years has not been impressive, but any human life is of great value, so the grief of loved ones who died in air accidents is immeasurable.
Fatal Landing in San Francisco
The last plane crash in the United States was recorded in July 2013. The Boeing 777 crashed while trying to land in San Francisco. The fuselage began to break off near the plane and the engine caught fire. As a result, out of 307 passengers, including the crew, three were killed and 181 people were injured.
In December of that year, it became known about the disaster that occurred in Georgia. A light-engine plane for reasons unknown until it reached its final destination and crashed to the ground. Two people died.
Thus, the crash in the United States over the past 10 years are on the decline, and this can not but rejoice. All over the world, work is underway to improve the quality of flights and their safety, so we hope that soon the veil of history will hide all the terrible wrecks.
