AirTran Airways was a low-cost airline in the United States that operated from 1993 until it merged with Southwest Airlines in 2014.
Turkish Airlines Flight 981 (TK981/THY981) was a scheduled flight from Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport to London Heathrow Airport, with an intermediate stop at Orly Airport in Paris. On 3 March 1974, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating the flight crashed into the Ermenonville Forest, 37.76 kilometres (23.46 mi) outside Paris, killing all 335 passengers and 11 crew on board, it was the first aviation accident to exceed 200 and 300 fatalities. The crash was also known as the Ermenonville air disaster.
ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 was a regularly scheduled flight from Miami to Atlanta in the United States. On May 11, 1996, the ValuJet Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the route crashed into the Florida Everglades about ten minutes after departing Miami as a result of a fire in the cargo compartment probably caused by mislabeled and improperly stored hazardous cargo. All 110 people on board were killed.
American Airlines Flight 1420 was a flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Little Rock National Airport in the United States. On June 1, 1999, the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating as Flight 1420 overran the runway upon landing in Little Rock and crashed. Nine of the 145 people aboard were immediately killed—the captain and eight passengers. Two more passengers died in the hospital in the following weeks.
Aeroméxico Flight 498 was a scheduled commercial flight from Mexico City, Mexico, to Los Angeles, California, United States, with several intermediate stops. On Sunday, August 31, 1986, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the flight was clipped in the tail section by N4891F, a Piper PA-28-181 Cherokee owned by the Kramer family, and crashed into the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos, killing all 64 on the DC-9, all three on the Piper and an additional 15 people on the ground. Eight on the ground also sustained minor injuries. Blame was assessed equally on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the pilot of the Cherokee. No fault was found with the DC-9 or the actions of its crew.
American Airlines Flight 96 (AA96/AAL96) was a regular domestic flight operated by American Airlines from Los Angeles to New York via Detroit and Buffalo. On June 12, 1972, the left rear cargo door of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 operating the flight blew open and broke off above Windsor, Ontario, after takeoff from Detroit, Michigan; the accident is thus sometimes referred to as the Windsor incident, although according to the NTSB it is an accident, not an incident.
ValuJet Airlines was an ultra low-cost airline in the United States that operated from 1992 until 1997, when it was rebranded as AirTran Airlines after joining forces with AirTran Airways. It was headquartered in unincorporated Clayton County, Georgia, that operated regularly scheduled domestic and international flights in the Eastern United States and Canada during the 1990s. The company was founded in 1992 and was notorious for its sometimes dangerous cost-cutting measures. All of the airline's planes were purchased used from other airlines; very little training was provided to workers; and contractors were used for maintenance and other services. The company quickly developed a reputation for safety issues. In 1995, the military refused ValuJet's bid to fly military personnel over safety worries, and officials at the FAA wanted the airline to be grounded.
Candalyn "Candi" Kubeck was an American commercial airline pilot and the captain of ValuJet Flight 592. This flight crashed into the Everglades in 1996, after oxygen generators illegally placed inside a cargo hold, which started and maintained a fire that disrupted aircraft functionality and flooded the entire cabin and cockpit with smoke. The crash made Kubeck the first female captain to die in a commercial airline crash.
United Airlines Flight 173 was a scheduled flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon, with a scheduled stop in Denver, Colorado. On December 28, 1978, the aircraft flying this route ran out of fuel while troubleshooting a landing gear problem and crashed in a suburban Portland neighborhood near NE 157th Avenue and East Burnside Street, killing 10 people on board.
Gregory Allen Feith is an American former Senior Air Safety Investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). He currently works as a consultant on aviation safety and security matters in the private sector, and as the aviation expert for NBC and MSNBC. He also serves as the technical advisor in a number of television programs such as Mayday, Seconds from Disaster, and Why Planes Crash while maintaining a busy speaking schedule.
In 2002, two large airtankers – a Lockheed C-130 Hercules and a Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer – crashed about a month apart while performing aerial firefighting operations. These crashes prompted a review of the maintenance and use of the entire U.S. large airtanker fleet. Ultimately, the whole fleet was grounded, dramatically reducing the resources available to fight major wildfires. Both aircraft were owned by Hawkins & Powers Aviation of Greybull, Wyoming and operated under contract to the United States Forest Service (USFS). The crashes occurred in one of the worst fire seasons in the last half century, one in which 73,000 fires burned 7.2 million acres (29,000 km2) of land.
On September 12, 1980, Florida Commuter Airlines Flight 65, operating from West Palm Beach, Florida to Freeport, Bahamas, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near West End Settlement on Grand Bahama Island. The Douglas DC-3A used on the flight was not recovered and all 34 persons on board were killed.
National Airlines Flight 102 (N8102/NCR102) was a cargo flight operated by National Airlines between Camp Shorabak near the city of Lashkargah in Afghanistan and Al Maktoum Airport in Dubai, with a refueling stop at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. On 29 April 2013, the Boeing 747-400 operating the flight crashed within the perimeter of the Bagram airfield moments after taking off, killing all seven people on board.
United Airlines Flight 2885 was a scheduled cargo flight from Cleveland to Los Angeles, with stopover in Detroit. On January 11, 1983, a DC-8 operating as Flight 2885 crashed after take-off from Detroit, killing all three crew members. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation determined that the cause for the crash was pilot error. A radioactive package was found on board, but no radioactive material was spilled.
FedEx Express Flight 630 was a regular scheduled cargo flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Memphis International Airport, Memphis, Tennessee. On July 28, 2006, the McDonnell Douglas MD-10-10F operating the flight, crashed upon landing due to a landing gear failure. The main left undercarriage collapsed seven seconds after touchdown causing the MD-10 to roll off the runway out of control. The aircraft finally came to a stop near taxiway M4 and caught fire. The fire consumed the wing and port engine and the crash and evacuation left everyone onboard injured.
The 1972 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash was an aviation accident that occurred on December 31, 1972, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. As a result of inadequate maintenance, the aircraft's No. 2 engine failed after takeoff. After initiating a turn to return to the airport, the aircraft eventually descended into, or attempted to ditch into, the ocean a mile offshore. All five people on board died, including baseball legend Roberto Clemente. The crash site was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places in 2022.
On September 8, 1973, a Douglas DC-8 operated by World Airways as World Airways Flight 802 crashed on high ground while on approach to Cold Bay Airport, Alaska, killing all six people on board.
Air Transport International Flight 805 was a regularly scheduled domestic cargo flight from Seattle to Toledo operated by Burlington Air Express. On February 15, 1992, the Douglas DC-8 operating the flight crashed during a second go-around attempt at Toledo Express Airport, killing all four people on board. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the accident was caused by pilot error due to the aircraft's control not being maintained.
Evergreen International Airlines Flight 17 (4U17/EIA17) was a cargo flight operated by Evergreen International Airlines and flown by a McDonnell Douglas DC-9. On March 18, 1989, the flight's planned route was scheduled to take it from Kelly Air Force Base to Tinker Air Force Base, with a stop at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas. The two pilots were the only occupants on board. Shortly after taking off from Carswell, the aircraft's main cargo door opened, the crew lost control of the aircraft and it subsequently crashed while attempting an emergency landing, killing both pilots.
On October 19, 2021, a corporate McDonnell Douglas MD-87, registered as N987AK, crashed and caught fire during take-off, 1,600 feet (500 m) from Houston Executive Airport. Those on board, 19 passengers and four crew members, were safely evacuated out of the aircraft. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and was subsequently written-off.
