US Flight Accidents
US have a bigger aviation sector which includes many flights and so the incidents related to its flight are also higher in rate. Here it has been listed based on its states where the incident occurred and the resolutions passed for ensuring better safety.
Arizona
The biggest flight accident of 1956 was a worse incident in the history of aviation at that time. This occurred on June 30 when United Airlines plane collided with Trans World Airlines (TWA) at 10:30 AM local time and above the Grand Canyon in Arizona. This unpleasant incident is remembered for most number of lives lost that is killing all 128 people on the board and redefining of flight operating system was done in USA.The collision actually occurred because both planes failed to spot each other and they were also flying in an unrestrained airspace. The federal aviation administration was formed to lay down new rules in order to ensure safety and better management of air space.
Arkansas
On June 1, in 1999 a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 with registration number N215AA which was an American airlines flight number 1420, slipped over the runway while landing at Little rock airport and finally it stopped at the banks of Arkansas river. It happened due to thunderstorm which created strong winds and the pilots were unable to stop it because of heavy wind pressure. Out of 145 members on board, 11 persons were dead and other suffered several injuries. After this incidence American airlines amended the checklist that the pilots should confirm that the spoilers are correctly armed.
California
In 1986 August 31 Aero México Flight 498 collided with a N4891F, call sign Piper 4891 Foxtrot which was owned by Kramer family. They both collided in the mid air at Cerritos, California which resulted in death of 67 members onboard on both the crafts and additionally 15 persons died as the planes fell in to the residential area injuring 8 more persons on the ground.
On October 29 in 1953 British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines Flight 304, a Douglas DC-6 crashed when it was nearing the San Francisco airport in between at king's mountain in the southeast of Half Moon Bay California. In this incident 19 people died and William kapell, American pianist also died in this accident.
On May 7 1964 Pacific airlines flight 773 got crashed in an unusual manner because a passenger shot dead both the pilots before shooting himself. On this grounds the plane crashed and all 44 persons on board died. Francisco Paula Gonzales who was disturbed in his life due to his financial and marital conditions boarded the flight with a gun and shot down both the pilots and him. This led to crashing down of plane at San Roman, California.
On September 25, 1978 Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) Flight 182, collided with a private Cessna 172 around San Diego, California. All 144 on board of both planes were killed and making it the worst accident in terms of life lost in California's aircraft history. This incident occurred because the pilot of PSA failed to notice the Cessna's aircraft.
On December 7, 1987 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 crashed near Cayucos, California in same circumstances as Pacific airlines flight 773 on May 7 1964 got crashed. David burke was previously employed at USAir and has been terminated for his in different behavior. He boarded the flight with a pistol and shot pilots before shooting himself. The plane crashed at a speed of 700 MPH which resulted in breaking it down in to thousands of pieces and all 43 people died in the confrontation.
On February 1 1991, a Boeing 737-3B7 got collided with Sky West Airlines Flight 5569 at Palmdale Regional Airport, in California after landing at Los Angeles airport. The sky west was ready for take off on the runway and the 737 was supposing to land on the same runway. 737 landed and went in to sky west which was still their on the runway. Sky west 12 members and 22 out of 89 of Boeing 737 were killed and others had received injuries.
On September 21 2005 Jet Blue Airways Flight 292 made an emergency landing at Los Angeles airport when the nose wheels got stuck in an unusual position. After take off pilots realized that the nose wheels are twisting in opposite direction, the pilot in command took the decision to land at Los Angeles airport so that wider runways and modern facilities will help to meet if any casualty occurs. When the plane landed the wheels generated flames and sparks but no injuries were reported.
Pam Am flight 7, on November 8, 1957 started from San Francisco to Honolulu but it never reached their as it went on vanishing. A week later US navy's aircraft spotted the remaining of plane and human beings gliding on the ocean. The reason of the crash is not known but the remaining suggests that the higher amount of carbon monoxide may be the cause.
Connecticut
On June 7 1971, Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 New Haven, CT a Convair-CV 580 with 31 passengers and crew members tried for landing in bad weather conditions. The aircraft crashed just at the neighborhood with roughly a mile short of the runway. The aircraft got crashed because the captain decided to move down beneath the minimums so as to locate the runway properly in unfavorable weather conditions. The landing did not take place properly and the plane got crashed. 28 off 31 on board were killed in this accident.
Colorado
In 1955 0n November 1 the United Airlines flight 629 bearing registration numbers N37559 named Mainliner Denver was exploded by a dynamite bomb and crashed down. The blast took place over Longmont, Colorado in which all 39 travelers and 5 troop members were killed. The explosion was so strong that the wreckage was spread around six square miles. The bomb was kept by John Gilbert Graham son of Daisie Aldora king who was one of the passengers of that flight. He did this to kill his mother for his gloomy childhood and to acquire wealth of his mother.
The Douglas Aircraft DC-9-14, a Continental Airlines Flight 1713 was going to Boise smashed at Denver, Colorado while take off. It crashed owing to snowstorm and bad weather on November 15, 1987. The flight was tumbled down and the wing separated resulted in turning of the plane as upside down. Of all 82 on board 28 were killed and other 54 were injured, the persons who got killed were sitting in the middle of the plane. After this incident there was modifications made for proper take offs during bad weathers and pilots flying time should be less than 100 hours on the same flight.
United Airlines Flight 585 was a scheduled airline from Denver to Colorado. On 3 March 1991 the Boeing 737-200 with registration number N999UA got crashed when it was coming near to landing strip 35 of the Colorado airport. It got crashed when it all of a sudden got rolled to the right and the pilots also lost the control. All 25 on board died instantly there were no survivors. Patricia Eidson was the second female pilot to be killed in accident concerning US commercial airliner.
District of Columbia
Air Florida Flight 90, an Air Florida flight of a Boeing 737-222 airliner, stopped working and crashed on January 13, 1982 into the 14th, Street Bridge across the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It crashed immediately after take off owing to a severe snowstorm and bad weather conditions. The captain took a poor decision of carrying take off when the aircraft was not properly de-iced. On repeated telling of first officer that there is o real location can be seen, the captain ignored it and went for a take off. It crashed on 14, street bridge hitting six cars and a truck on the bridge and also damaged the bridge. In this accident 78 people were killed and others were severely injured. Arland D Williams Jr. was the person who gave the lifeline rope to others instead of holding it and was saving others life. He drowned before he could be saved and he was awarded with many honors for his heroic act.
Florida
On December 29, 1972 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a Lockheed L-1011 flight which got crashed on the night of 29 December. This crash is called as controlled flight into terrain which means a properly balanced flight is crashing on the ground. This was a result of complete failure of crew members for not supervising the instruments. It's malfunctioning of the landing gear position indicator system resulted in crash down and it was also first crash of wide body aircraft and the deadliest in the US. Robert Marquis and Ray Dickinsin were the first to see the crash and rushed for rescuing people. 79 people died and 99 survived with certain injuries in this accident.
On May 11, 1966 ValuJet Flight 592 took off from Miami airport, Florida and crashed after few minutes of its take off. This crash was the biggest factor of discouragement for the trustworthiness of the low-priced carriers. It got crashed at Browns Farm Wildlife Management area in the Everglades, just a little miles west of Miami. All 105 passengers and the 5 crew members were killed. The recovery of the aircraft and fatalities was very complicated due to the location of crash; the very nearer road to crash was quarter a mile away from the remaining.
On July 2002 America West Flight 556 pilots were ordered to return back to Miami, Florida while it was on its way to Arizona. The return back order was given because the pilots were supposed to be legally drunk. The pilots were founded guilty for operating an aircraft while they were drunk. They were arrested and later on trial were conducted and punishment was given according to their offenses.
Rigoberto Alpizar was a Costa Rican born US citizen and a resident of central Florida. On December 7, 2005 he and his wife were to fly to their home Orlando, Florida on American Airlines Flight 924. All the passengers boarded the plane and were seated. Alpizar had an argument with his wife and said he wanted to get down of the plane and ran to the door. His wife after him saying that he is sick followed by an air marshal. The two air marshal tackled him at the door for telling threatening words and was told to stop where he was. He was told to ground but he did not obey and ran to get his bag. The air marshal opened fire and killed him. After this all luggages were checked and no bomb or explosives were found.
Georgia
On April 5 1991, Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311 got crashed while on its final approach. It started from Atlanta, Georgia and it was coming to Brunswick, Georgia, while landing some technical problems arose and the plane collided. Break down of left engine propeller control unit let the propeller blade to go down more then the normal level, which resulted in the clash of aircraft. The reason was that the pilots extended hours of duty because they had very little time to sleep. All 23 on board died in the incident.
Hawaii
On April 28, 1988 the Aloha Airlines Flight 243 a regular flight from Hilo to Honolulu in Hawaii had experienced a broad smash up following a hotheaded decompression in flight, but it landed safely at Maui's Kahului airport. In this particular incident only one person got killed was flight attendant C.B. Lansing as she was blown out of the plane. Crew members helped the passengers through emergency exits and all 65 were taken to hospital as every one suffered injuries. A in detail investigation was conducted and it was found that the reason was metal fatigue.
On February 24 1989, United Airlines Flight 811 had suffered a cargo door failure after taking off from Hawaii. In this decompression many rows of seats were blown out and it killed 9 persons. The flight was climbing and suddenly a big noise was heard and the cargo door was blown up creating a hole in the aircraft. The pilots prepared for emergency landing as the aircraft had suffered more damages. It returned to Hawaii and everyone was evacuated in just 45 seconds. They were taken to hospital to care for the injuries as every one was injured.
Illinois
On December 8, 1972 United Airlines Flight 553 was on its route to Omaha through Chicago Midway International Airport. The crew was told to go around and abandon their first attempt of landing on runway 31L, the craft did not land properly got struck in trees and crashed in to house at West 70 place. Totally 45 were killed, 43 were on board of the plane and other two people were also killed. Three flight crew members died while three flight attendants and 15 people survived. The accident took place because of the pilot's error. He was traveling very low and at that time he tried to land but the plane was not in position for landing. The crew also lacked in better discipline and coordination. This is also regarded as sabotage but no evidence has been founded till sate.
On May 25 1979, American Airlines Flight 191 was on its way to Los Angeles starting from Illinois. After it's taking off within few minutes it got crashed and all 271 passengers and crew member were killed. The cause of the accident was that the number one engine has separated and it's flying up so it will be smashed down it also caused leakage of fuel. A pilot who is aware of 191's problem could only recover from it but other additional failures made it impossible to land the aircraft. It has been considered as the most deadly accident in the history of US in terms of life lost.
Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 was a regular passenger flight from Baltimore to Chicago which on December 8 2005, skidded over the runway and finally stopped in automobile traffic. The aircraft was about to land in bad weather and thunderstorm conditions. The craft's nose gear had collapsed; it smashed the wall around the airport and came to halt when at the northwestern side of the airport. The South central avenue was covered with traffic; the aircraft has hit three cars and killed a six year old boy seated in one of the cars. Many people on street were injured and taken to hospital including one passenger who suffered injuries.
Indiana
On September 9, 1969, Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 collided with a Piper PA-28 just above at 3500 feet in mid air near Fairland, Indiana. The Piper flight was let out to a learner pilot making a solo cross-country flight. All 78 passengers and 4 crew members on board of flight 853 were killed and the piper pilot was also killed. The aircraft were destroyed in collision and ground blow. Witnesses saw the collision and said it might have happened due to scatter ness of clouds. But both aircrafts were below the clouds and can be clearly seen but none of the aircraft tried to stay away from collision. Then NTSB and FAA took justifying steps to provide better information to pilots of other aircraft approaching.
The first air disruption in the history of business aviation is considered to be held on October 10, 1933 when the Boeing 247 operated by United Airlines crashed near Chesterton, Indiana. 4 passengers and 3 crew members totally 7 people were killed in this accident. People on the ground said that they heard an explosion on 9:15 p.m. and the plane has caught fire. Another explosion was heard when the plane crashed. The investigating officer Melvin Purvis, head of the United States Bureau of Investigation office in Chicago said that the tragedy resulted from an explosion somewhere in the region of the baggage compartment in the rear of the plane.
On October 31, 1994 American Eagle Flight 4184 crashed at Halloween when it landed in icing conditions. The flight did not have proper technique which can be used for safer landing in icing conditions. It resulted in loss of control and killing of 68 people in which 64 passengers and 4 crew members included. This flight also has recorded in history problems for landing in known ice conditions which the air craft cannot support. After many reported incidents AMR stopped American Eagle's flying in the icy areas to avoid any further incidents.
Iowa
On 19 July 1989 the United Airlines Flight 232, Douglas DC-10 (Registration N1819U) survived from a crash after its emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa. This is regarded as a winning instance of crew resource management in the aviation community because the crew very effectively used the source available on board to assist in an emergency landing. It suffered a failure of number 2 engine after an hour of take off and also demolished all the three aircraft's hydraulic systems. It made for total lost of control of flight only thrust levers for the two remaining engines was working and it also broke up at emergency landing. The skills of crew and a DC-10, flight instructor, Dennis E. Fitch, assistance helped in landing and surviving of 175 members and 10 crew members. 110 people were killed in the accident. The fatality could have been more if there was delay in rescue work.
Kansas
On March 31, 1931Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 599 was a Fokker F.10 Trimotor on it's to route from Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California; it crashed 10 miles after take off form Kansas. It was considered that the plane went down after a thunderstorm has hit it but the reason of its crash was composition of the plane. In this all 8 people on board were killed including Knute Rockne, the head football coach at the University of Notre Dame. This incident brought numerous changes in the operating system of TWA and the Aeronautics Branch of the US Department of Commerce, prototype of today's FAA. This accident made a bad image as Rockne died in it which led to closing of this airlines company.
Kentucky
On June 2, 1983, Air Canada Flight 797 was on its route to Montreal which cached up fire at the back of the washroom that extended involving the outer skin and the inner decor panels. The plane got filled with the deadly toxic smoke killing 23 people and mostly due to smoke inhalation. 18 passengers and 5 crew members survived either with injury or not. The fire let down all the wiring connections and making it very difficult to know the exact position. The pilot was forced to land at an alternating place. After one and half minute the door was opened and there was enough oxygen to breath. This incident made a remarking change in the safety measures to be followed for in flight fire and other life saving instruments were installed to ensure safer flights.
On August 27, 2006, Comair Flight 191 got crashed when it was trying to take off from Blue Grass Airport in Fayette County, Kentucky. It used a shorter runway number 26 which is not safer for take off that led to overturn at the end of runway earlier than it was air borne. All 47 passengers and two crew members were killed and the sole survivor of this accident was flight's first officer. The NTSB later announced that the crash was caused due to the negligence of the crew members. Several cases were filled against the flight company and airport authorities. New guidelines were issued for runways to be built for safe take offs and landing.
Louisiana
On July 9 1982, Pan Am Flight 759, operated by a Boeing 727-235, N4737 Clipper Defiance was on its route to Las Vegas via Louisiana, after its take off from New Orleans International Airport it got crashed because of thunderstorms. After climbing the height of 150m it began to slide down as it was hit by gusty winds of thunderstorm and it started hitting trees, houses before crashing in to residential area. The plane was destroyed in the incident of crash and explosion. 138 passengers, 7 crew members and 8 people on ground in total 153 people were killed in this accident. The cause was determined to be the absence of wind shear detection system and to be installed in flights to ensure better flying.
Maryland
On December 8, 1963, Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707-121 registered as N709PA, was a regular scheduled flight from Baltimore to Philadelphia. It crashed near Elkton, Maryland, on it way to Philadelphia as it was hit by lighting strike. The later investigation revealed that the cause was lightning-induced detonation of the fuel/air assortment in the no. 1 preserve fuel tank with consequential explosive led to the breakdown of the left outer wing and loss of control. After this FAA recommended installation of lighting discharge wicks on all flights. This incident also holds record for the "Worst Lightning Strike Death Toll" in the Guinness Book of World Records (2005) as 81 people on board was killed.
Michigan
On August 16 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 took off from Michigan near Detroit on its way to Phoenix; it crashed short wile after its take off at 8:46 pm. In this accident all passengers and crew members were killed apart from Cecelia Cichan a four year old girl who suffered severe injuries. After the initial climb aircraft rolled in all directions and it got struck in light poles, roof of a car rental building and skidded on the ground. In this confrontation 156 people were killed including two on ground and 6 people were injured including 5 on the ground.
On January 9 1997, Comair Flight 3272 started from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport for its destination to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. While landing it crashed with nose down 18 miles short before reaching the airport, it actually tried for lading in a snow covered atmosphere. The NTSB said the cause was insufficient systems for proper landing in icy conditions led to loss of control, resulting in crash and killing of 29 people both passengers and crew members.
Missouri
On May 22 1962, was on its route form Illinois to Missouri which exploded and crashed at Unionville, in Putnam County, Missouri. This was the initial damage that has been caused of a commercial jet aircraft in passenger service. The plane diverged from its routine plan to north to avoid a thunderstorm and a blow up took place at right rear lavatory at 9:17 pm. resulted in division of tail section from the fuselage. The eye witness listened to thunderous and bizarre noise and saw a flash or ball of fire. Out of 45 members on board 44 were dead when salvage workers reached their but only one person was alive and was taken to hospital where he died after an hour of internal injuries. Thomas G. Doty one of passenger was suspected to be the bomber as he had purchased dynamites brusquely previous to the crash.
Nebraska
On August 6 1966, Braniff Airways Flight 250 got crashed at Falls City, Nebraska because of a failure in-flight structure; all 42 members on board were killed. It took off from Kansas City Missouri under bad weather conditions. After some time it contacted another flight which had took off from Omaha to know about weather conditions, that flight described moderate to light instability. Flight 250 developed some faulty functions as it was flying in totally danger situation and it fall down in flames before it came on ground.
Nevada
On January 16 1942, Transcontinental and Western Airlines Flight 3, was on its way to California starting from Indiana and it crashed at Mount Potosi 30 miles of Las Vegas. It took off at 4 o' clock in the morning on Jan 16 movie actresses Carole Lombard along with her mother and press agent were on board. After a spontaneous refill of fuel at Las Vegas the plane took off in dark clouds because of war. After 23 minutes the plane crashed in to double up peak and everyone on board that is 21 people were killed in the crash. Lombard was coming back from a war bonds promotion tour and was the first womanly sufferer of the US war endeavor in II world war.
New Hampshire
On October 25, 1968, Northeast Airlines Flight 946 was on its way to Vermont and during the evening it got crashed at Moose Mountain when it came down below the minimum levels. 32 persons were killed in which four were employees of National Life Insurance Company. The fatalities in addition incorporated a journalist of Barre Daily Times, and six social personnel of the Vermont Head Start Supplementary Training Program together with Abraham H. Blum, Doctorate of Child Development. 10 persons survived the crash with little injuries. The NTSB in its report said that the pilots were flying below the standard level and they do not have the proper idea of their flying altitude and it did not have any navigation support in flight or at the airport.