List of aircraft structural failures

Last updated

1952 International Aviation Exposition: Northrop F-89 Scorpion wing failure during flypast. F-89 Scorpion Crash IAE Detroit 1952.jpg
1952 International Aviation Exposition:
Northrop F-89 Scorpion wing failure during flypast.

The list of aircraft accidents and incidents caused by structural failures summarizes notable accidents and incidents such as the 1933 United Airlines Chesterton Crash due to a bombing and a 1964 B-52 test that landed after the vertical stabilizer broke off. Loss of structural integrity during flight can be caused by:

Contents

List of aircraft accidents and incidents caused by structural failure
DateAccident/incidentLocationAircraftCauseFatalitiesNotes
1913-08-07 Death of S F Cody United Kingdom Cody Floatplane "inherent structural weakness"2Broke up
1919-08-02 Airliner crash at Verona Italy Caproni Ca.48 Wing flutter followed by wing collapse14, 15, or 17 (sources vary)The crash killed all aboard
1921-08-23 1921 Humber crash UK: Hull R38 (ZR-2) Weather combined with weakened hull44Deformation followed by fire & explosion
1925-09-03 Crash of the USS Shenandoah Caldwell, Ohio, United States USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) Severe weather14Torn apart by turbulence
1930-07-23 Meopham air disaster Meopham, Kent Junkers F.13 Overload/metal fatigue6Tailplane weakened by turbulence and flutter
1933-10-10 United Airlines Chesterton Crash Indiana, United States Boeing 247 Bombing7Explosion severed tail section
1935-02-12Loss of USS Macon (ZRS-5) off California, United StatesAkron class airshipWeather combined with unrepaired damage2Wind shear caused structural failure of the tail which damaged gas cells
1943-08-01 1943 Lambert Field CG-4A crash St. Louis, United States Waco CG-4 [N 1] Manufacturing flaw10Loss of right-hand wing due to failure of defective wing strut fitting [1]
1947-10-24 United Airlines Flight 608 USA: about 1.5 Miles southeast of Bryce Canyon Airport Douglas DC-6 Pilot error and design flaw52Fire caused by failure of pilots to stop fuel transfer and design flaw. Fire eventually lead to an in-flight breakup.
1952-08-30 1952 F-89 airshow crash Detroit, Michigan, United States F-89 Scorpion Design flaw2Wing broke off during flypast [2]
1952-09-06 1952 Farnborough Airshow DH.110 crash Farnborough, Hampshire, United Kingdom de Havilland DH.110 Design flaw31Leading edge aeroelastic flutter caused the aircraft to breakup and crash into the crowd
1953-02-06 National Airlines Flight 470 Gulf of Mexico Douglas DC-6 Severe weather46Loss of control and structural failure in severe turbulence
1954-01-10 BOAC Flight 781 Mediterranean Sea de Havilland Comet Design flaw35Near Elba: roof fatigue fracture lead to decompression
1954-04-08 South African Airways Flight 201 Mediterranean Sea de Havilland Comet Design flaw21Near Naples: decompression due to fatigue
1955-11-01 United Air Lines Flight 629 Longmont, Colorado, United States Douglas DC-6B Bombing 44Bomb placed in suitcase caused in-flight breakup
1957-04-17 1957 Aqaba Valetta accident Near Aqaba, Jordan Vickers Valetta Severe weather27Design strength of left-hand wing exceeded during probable loss of control in severe clear-air turbulence [3]
1957-05-31 1957 McNabs Island RCN Banshee crashNear Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada F2H-3 Banshee Manufacturing flaw1Loss of outer starboard wing due to improperly manufactured fittings in folding wing mechanism [4]
1958-09-20 1958 Vulcan crash at RAF Syerston RAF Syerston, United Kingdom Avro Vulcan prototypePilot error7Flew too fast during low pass exceeded g-limit of leading edge structure, aircraft disintegrated [5]
1959-10-01 1959 Lightning crash Irish Sea, United Kingdom Lightning T.4 (first aircraft)Fin collapse due to inertia coupling during high speed tests0first supersonic ejection by a UK pilot (M 1.7) [6] Fin enlarged
1963-01-24 1963 Elephant Mountain B-52 crash Maine, United States B-52 Stratofortress Unknowingly exceeded design capability7Loss of vertical stabilizer
1963-01-30 1963 B-52 crash in New Mexico New Mexico, United States B-52 Stratofortress Unknowingly exceeded design capability2Near Mora: [7] loss of vertical stabilizer [8]
1964-01-04 1964 B-57 crash Dayton, United StatesNRB-57 Canberra Mis-management of fuel system, causing CofG to be beyond its safe rearward limit2Both wings failed
1964-01-10B-52 flight test of vertical stabilizer New Mexico, United States B-52 Stratofortress Unknowingly exceeded design capability0Loss of vertical stabilizer, landed safely
1964-01-13 1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash Maryland, United States B-52 Stratofortress Unknowingly exceeded design capability3Loss of vertical stabilizer
1964-01-04 1964 USAF Thunderbird crash Hamilton Field, California, United States F-105 Thunderchief Design flaw1Spine failure during 6G pitch-up at air show
1965-07-06 1965 Little Baldon Hastings accident RAF Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom Handley Page Hastings Design flaw41Right-hand elevator became uncontrollable due to metal fatigue-related failure of two bolts in elevator system [9]
1966-03-05 BOAC Flight 911 Mount Fuji, Japan Boeing 707-436 Severe weather124Severe clear-air turbulence, gust load over design limit lead to in-flight breakup
1966-08-06 Braniff Airways Flight 250 Nebraska, United States BAC One-Eleven 203AE Severe weather42Horizontal and vertical stabilizers detached in severe turbulence
1967-03-05 Lake Central Flight 527 Ohio, United States Convair CV-580 Propeller manufacturing defect38Propeller broke apart; one of the blades punctured the fuselage, causing the forward section to break away
1967-06-23 Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 Pennsylvania, United States BAC One-Eleven 204AF Mechanical failure34Valve in the auxiliary power unit suffered a complete failure, spreading fire to the tailplane and causing a loss of pitch control
1967-11-15 X-15 Flight 3-65-97 Edwards AFB, United States North American X-15 Pilot error1 Loss of control followed by airframe failure
1968-05-03 Braniff Airways Flight 352 Near Dawson, Texas, United States Lockheed L188A-Electra Severe weather85Controlled flight into thunderstorm with severe turbulence causing in-flight breakup
1970-07-05 Air Canada Flight 621 Brampton, Ontario, Canada McDonnell Douglas DC-8 Pilot error109Hard landing caused by crew error, causing engine No.4 and pylon to separate; further damage to the right wing caused leaking fuel to ignite and explode, causing the wing to break up and lead to the crash
1971-03-05 BEA Flight 706 Belgium Vickers Vanguard Inadequate maintenance: undetected corrosion63Near Aarsele: rear pressure bulkhead failure caused loss of tailplane
1972-06-12 American Airlines Flight 96 Detroit, Michigan, United States MD DC-10 Design flaw0Cargo door locking mechanism failed causing door to separate from the aircraft and causing further damage; landed safely
1973-05-18 Aeroflot Flight 109 Chita, Soviet Union Tupolev Tu-104 Terrorist bombing81Bomb put on board by hijacker
1974-03-03 Turkish Airlines Flight 981 Picardy, France MD DC-10 Design flaw346Cargo door locking mechanism failed allowing door to separate from the aircraft; cabin floor collapsed, control cables severed, crashed into a forest
1976-04-14Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Argentina: near Cutral-Co Hawker Siddeley 748 Improper maintenance: undetected metal fatigue 34Starboard wing failed outboard of engine
1977-05-14 1977 Dan-Air Boeing 707 crash Near Lusaka Airport, Lusaka, Zambia Boeing 707 Metal fatigue and aircraft design flaw6Structural failure of the right horizontal stabiliser due to metal fatigue and aircraft design flaw
1978-06-26 Helikopter Service Flight 165 North Sea, Norway Sikorsky S-61 Fatigue18 Rotor blade loosened after fatigue to the knuckle joint: crashed into the sea [10]
1979-05-25 American Airlines Flight 191 Chicago, United States MD DC-10 Improper maintenance271 + 2 on groundNo.1 engine broke off due to faulty maintenance procedure; slats retracted, leading the plane to stall and crash
1981-06-02 NLM CityHopper Flight 431 Moerdijk, Netherlands Fokker F28 Fellowship Severe weather17Starboard wing detached from airframe due to loads exceeding design limits after the aircraft entered a tornado.
1982-03-11 Widerøe Flight 933 Gamvik, Norway de Havilland Canada Twin Otter Severe weather15 Vertical stabilizer and rudder failed during clear-air turbulence [11]
1985-06-23 Air India Flight 182 Atlantic Ocean off County Cork Boeing 747 Terrorist bombing329Terrorist bomb placed in cargo hold
1985-08-12 Japan Airlines Flight 123 Mount Osutaka, Japan Boeing 747SR Improper maintenance520Faulty repair after same plane suffered a tailstrike: the rear bulkhead failed which caused the tail fin to fall off and rupture all four hydraulic systems. The crash remains the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history.
1987-11-28 South African Airways Flight 295 Indian Ocean, 134 nautical miles (248 km) north-east of Mauritius, Boeing 747 Fire159Catastrophic and contained cargo fire in rear cargo deck lead to the separation of tail section, an in-flight break up and a high-speed dive into ocean
1988-04-28 Aloha Airlines Flight 243 Hawaii, United States Boeing 737 Improper adhesive bonding of fuselage lap joints1Corrosion and fatigue: 18 ft of roof separated from fuselage
1988-12-21 Pan Am Flight 103 Lockerbie, United Kingdom Boeing 747 Terrorist bombing259 + 11 on groundTerrorist bomb in the forward luggage hold
1989-02-24 United Airlines Flight 811 Hawaii, United States Boeing 747 Dirt on microswitch/short circuit9Cargo door opened (electrical fault), causing surrounding structure to fail leaving large hole; landed safely
1989-09-08 Partnair Flight 394 18 km north of Hirtshals, Denmark Convair 580 Improper maintenance: use of counterfeit aircraft parts55Highest death toll involving a Convair 580; loosening of vertical stabilizer due to excessive wear on mounting bolts
1989-09-19 UTA Flight 772 Sahara Desert, Ténéré, Niger McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Terrorist bombing170Bomb hidden in forward cargo hold detonated at 35,000 feet leading to in-flight break-up scattering debris over a wide area across the Sahara
1990-04-12 Widerøe Flight 839 Værøy, Norway de Havilland Canada Twin Otter Severe weather5 Rudder and tailplane cracked during extreme winds [12]
1990-06-10 British Airways Flight 5390 Didcot, United Kingdom BAC One-Eleven Faulty maintenance0Window separated from plane causing the pilot to be sucked out. First Officer successfully landed the plane in Southampton
1991-02-06 1991 Gulf War Boeing KC-135 accident Near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker Severe weather and wake turbulence 0Due to excess maneuvering, the airframe was pushed to its limits. Two out of the four engines detached from the aircraft. The plane executed an emergency landing
1991-05-26 Lauda Air Flight 004 Phu Toei National Park, Amphoe Dan Chang, Thailand Boeing 767-300ER Manufacturing error: faulty thrust reverser223Thrust reverser in No.1 engine unexpectedly deployed while cruising at 35,000 ft causing it to bank sharply to the left and enter a high-speed dive and breaking up at roughly 4000 ft scattering wreckage over a wide area
1991-09-11 Continental Express Flight 2574 Texas, United States Embraer 120 Brasilia Improper maintenance14Failure of the horizontal stabilizer during flight due to misunderstanding during maintenance
1992-10-04 El Al Flight 1862 Bijlmermeer, Netherlands Boeing 747 Corrosion in pylon fuse pin leading to metal fatigue4 on board, 39 on groundEngine No.3 separated from its pylon which caused the adjacent engine No.4 to also fall off, taking the slats with them; stall and crash on attempted landing
1996-07-17 TWA Flight 800 Moriches Inlet, near East Moriches, New York, United States Boeing 747 Fuel tank explosion230Exploded, broke up, and crashed off the coast of Long Island 30 minutes after taking off from New York bound for Paris due to a catastrophic central fuel tank explosion resulting in the forward fuselage section, which included the main flight deck first class and a portion of business class, separating and causing the remaining section to climb, abruptly stall, and enter a high speed dive, causing the left wing to also separate and plunge into the Atlantic Ocean in flames
1997-06-26 Helikopter Service Flight 451 Norwegian Sea, Norway Eurocopter AS 332L1 Super Puma Fatigue12The accident was caused by a fatigue crack in the spline, which ultimately caused the power transmission shaft to fail. The helicopter crashed into the sea. [13]
1997-12-19 SilkAir Flight 185 Musi River, Palembang, Indonesia Boeing 737-300 Pilot suicide (disputed by NTSC)104Entered a high-speed vertical dive and broke up on its way down into the Musi River
1999-01-31 EgyptAir Flight 990 Atlantic Ocean, 100 km (62 mi) S of Nantucket Boeing 767-300ER Pilot suicide (disputed)217Abruptly descended rapidly before rapidly climbing before finally entering a high-speed dive, causing the No.1 engine and portions of the wings to break off on its way down towards the ocean
2000-01-31 Alaska Airlines Flight 261 Pacific Ocean near Anacapa Island McDonnell Douglas MD-83 Maintenance intervals extended beyond safe limit88Lack of lubrication causing structural failure of the jackscrew on the horizontal stabiliser resulting in aircraft descending inverted into sea
2001-11-12 American Airlines Flight 587 Queens, New York City, United States Airbus A300 Pilot error265Overuse of rudder leading to loss of vertical stabilizer
2002-04-302002 Eglin Air Force Base F-15 crash Gulf of Mexico F-15 Eagle Undetected corrosion1Near Eglin AFB: port fin leading edge failed during test dive
2002-05-25 China Airlines Flight 611 Taiwan Strait near Penghu Islands, Taiwan Boeing 747 Faulty maintenance, metal fatigue225Tailstrike leading to faulty repair: tail section broke off, causing aircraft to disintegrate
2003-02-01 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster Texas, United States Space Shuttle Design flaw7Damaged TPS during launch, breakup during reentry
2005-12-19 Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 Miami Beach, Florida, United States Grumman Turbo-Mallard Improper maintenance20In-flight wing failure due to metal fatigue
2007-01-01 Adam Air Flight 574 Makassar Strait off Majene, Sulawesi, Indonesia Boeing 737-400 Pilot error102Spatial disorientation, inertial reference system (IRS) malfunction gradually banked to the left and entered a high-speed dive and broke up on its way down
2008-05-30 Pilatus EC-JXH crash Spain Pilatus PC-6 [14] 2Wing failure
2014-10-31 VSS Enterprise crash Near the Mojave Desert, California, United States Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo Pilot error and design flaw1Premature activation of the air brake device used for atmospheric re-entry lead to an in-flight breakup
2015-10-31 Metrojet Flight 9268 North Sinai Governorate, Egypt Airbus A321-200Terrorist bombing224Bomb that was smuggled into rear cargo hold disguised as a soft drink can contained four packs of dynamite, causing the tail section to separate and lead to an in-flight break up, scattering the wreckage in the Sinai Desert
2016-05-19 EgyptAir Flight 804 Mediterranean Sea Airbus A320-200Explosion/fire caused by oxygen leak66Accident was caused by oxygen leak in the cockpit; the following combustion and explosion ignited by the pilot's cigarette caused a fire and the break-up of the airplane into the Mediterranean Sea
2017-10-07 2017 United States Marine Corps KC-130 crash Leflore County, Mississippi, United States Lockheed KC-130T Hercules Improper maintenance16Accident was caused by improper repairs conducted in 2011 on a corroded propeller blade
2025-11-10 2025 Turkish Air Force Lockheed C-130 crash Rustavi, Georgia Lockheed C-130 Hercules Under Investigation20the Aircraft breaks into Three Pieces, Accident is still Under Investigation.


See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Accident aircraft 42-78839 had been built under license by contractor Robertson Aircraft Corporation.

Citations

  1. ↑ Gero 2010, pp. 24–25.
  2. ↑ "WORK IN PROGRESS – More to add". Ejection-history.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  3. ↑ Gero 2010, p. 75.
  4. ↑ Mills, Carl (1991). Banshees of the Royal Canadian Navy. Willowdale, ON: Banshee Publication. pp. 280–281. ISBN   978-0-9695200-0-9.
  5. ↑ "Anniversary of Vulcan crash." BBC News, 19 September 2008.
  6. ↑ "2005". Ejection-history.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  7. ↑ "B-52_Stratofortress". Ejection-history.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-02-14. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  8. ↑ "Look mom, I lost my tail! We gotta bring this Buff in anyway". TalkingProud.us. Archived from the original on June 4, 2007. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
  9. ↑ Gero 2010, p. 95.
  10. ↑ "Rapport om luftfartsulykke i Nordsjøen den 26. juni 1978 ca. kl. 1115 med helikopter S-61 LN-OQS, tilhørende K/S Helikopter Service A/S" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Accident Investigation Board Norway. 17 January 1980. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  11. ↑ Parliament of Norway (20 September 2005). "Rapport til Stortingets presidentskap fra Stortingets granskningskommisjon for Mehamn-ulykken" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  12. ↑ Accident Investigation Board Norway (1991). "Rapport of luftfartsulykke ved Værøy lufthavn den 12. april 1990 med Twin Otter LN-BNS" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original (pdf) on 2012-07-17.
  13. ↑ "Report on the air accident 8 September 1997 in the Norwegian sea approx. 100 NM west north west of Brønnøysund, involving Eurocopter AS 332L1 Super Puma, LN-OPG, operated by Helikopter Service AS" (PDF). Accident Investigation Board Norway. November 2001. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  14. ↑ Ranter, Harro. "Accident Pilatus PC-6/B2-H4 Turbo Porter EC-JXH, 30 May 2008". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2021-01-18.

Bibliography


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