Pilot error
Encyclopedia
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
where the pilot is considered to be principally or partially responsible. Pilot error can be defined as a mistake, oversight, lapse in judgement, or failure to exercise due diligence
Due diligence
"Due diligence" is a term used for a number of concepts involving either an investigation of a business or person prior to signing a contract, or an act with a certain standard of care. It can be a legal obligation, but the term will more commonly apply to voluntary investigations...
by an aircraft operator during the performance of his/her duties.
Usually in an accident deemed due to "pilot error", the pilot in command (Captain) made the error unintentionally. However, an intentional disregard for a standard operating procedure (or warning) is still considered pilot error, even if the pilot's actions justified criminal charges.
An aircraft operator (airline or aircraft owner) is generally not held accountable for an incident that is principally due to a mechanical failure of the aircraft unless the mechanical failure occurred as a result of pilot error.
The pilot may be declared to be in error even during adverse weather conditions if the investigating body deems that the pilot did not exercise due diligence. The responsibility for the accident in such a case would depend upon whether the pilot could reasonably know of the danger and whether he or she took reasonable steps to avoid the weather problem. Flying into a hurricane (for other than legitimate research purposes) would be considered pilot error; flying into a microburst
Microburst
A microburst is a very localized column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds at the surface that are similar to, but distinguishable from, tornadoes, which generally have convergent damage. There are two types of microbursts: wet microbursts and dry microbursts...
would not be considered pilot error if it was not detectable by the pilot, or in the time before this hazard was understood. Some weather phenomena (such as clear-air turbulence
Clear-Air Turbulence
Clear air turbulence is the turbulent movement of air masses in the absence of any visual cues such as clouds, and is caused when bodies of air moving at widely different speeds meet....
or mountain wave
Mountain Wave
Mountain Wave is a security management company in the United States. It was acquired by Symantec on July 2, 2002....
s) are difficult to avoid, especially if the aircraft involved is the first aircraft to encounter the phenomenon in a certain area at a certain time.
One of the most famous incidents of an aircraft disaster attributed to pilot error was the night time crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 1 jet that crashed into the Florida Everglades on the night of December 29, 1972, causing 101 fatalities...
near Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
on December 29, 1972. The pilot, co-pilot, and Flight Engineer had become fixated on a faulty landing gear light and had failed to realize that the autopilot
Autopilot
An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. An autopilot can refer specifically to aircraft, self-steering gear for boats, or auto guidance of space craft and missiles...
buttons had been bumped by one of the crew altering the settings from level flight to a slow descent. Told by ATC to hold over a sparsely populated area away from the airport (with, as a result, very few lights on the ground visible to act as an external reference) while they dealt with the problem, the distracted flight crew did not notice the plane losing height and the aircraft eventually struck the ground in the Everglades
Everglades
The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...
, killing 101 out of 176 passengers and crew.
The subsequent National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
(NTSB) report on the incident blamed the flight crew for failing to monitor the aircraft's instruments properly. Details of the incident are now frequently used as a case study in training exercises by aircrews and air traffic controllers.
Placing pilot error as a cause of an aviation accident is often controversial. For example, the NTSB ruled that the crash of American Airlines Flight 587
American Airlines Flight 587
American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300, crashed into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens, a borough of New York City, New York, shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport on November 12, 2001. This is the second deadliest U.S...
was due to the failure of the rudder which was caused by "unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs" on the part of the co-pilot who was operating the aircraft at the time. Attorneys for the co-pilot, who was killed in the crash, argue that American Airlines' pilots had never been properly trained concerning extreme rudder inputs. The attorneys also claimed that the rudder failure was actually caused by a flaw in the design of the Airbus A300
Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS...
aircraft and that the co-pilot's rudder inputs should not have caused the catastrophic rudder failure that led to the accident that killed 265 people.
During 2004 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, pilot error was listed as the primary cause of 78.6% of fatal general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
accidents, and as the primary cause of 75.5% of general aviation accidents overall. For scheduled air transport, pilot error typically accounts for just over half of worldwide accidents with a known cause.
Notable examples
- 28 July 1945 – a United States Army Air ForcesUnited States Army Air ForcesThe United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
B-25B-25 Empire State Building crashThe B-25 Empire State Building crash was a 1945 aircraft accident in which a B-25 Mitchell piloted in thick fog crashed into the Empire State Building...
bomber bound for Newark Airport crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State BuildingEmpire State BuildingThe Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
after the pilot became lost in a heavy fog bank situated over ManhattanManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. All three crewmen were killed as well as eleven office workers in the building.
- 2 August 1947 – Star Dust, a British South American AirwaysBritish South American AirwaysBritish South American Airways or British South American Airways Corporation was a state-run airline in Britain in the 1940s. It was originally called British Latin American Air Lines Ltd....
Avro LancastrianAvro Lancastrian|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Franks, Richard A. The Avro Lancaster, Manchester and Lincoln: A Comprehensive Guide for the Modeller. London: SAM Publications, 2000. ISBN 0-9533465-3-6....
, crashed in the TupungatoTupungatoTupungato, one of the highest mountains in South America, is a massive stratovolcano dating to Pleistocene times. It lies on the border between the Chilean Metropolitan Region and the , near a major international highway about 80 km east of Santiago, Chile. It is located about south of Monte...
glacierGlacierA glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
field high in the AndesAndesThe Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
about 60 miles (100 km) from its destination of Santiago, ChileSantiago, ChileSantiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
; killing all eleven occupants. The aircraft was instantly buried from the resulting avalancheAvalancheAn avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
and heavy snowfall; it then became encased in glacier ice. The wreckage was not discovered until 2000. Details of the crash are somewhat unclear, but modern investigators believe a navigation error on the part of the flight crew was the principal cause of the accident. They appear to have encountered the jet streamJet streamJet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents found in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. The main jet streams are located near the tropopause, the transition between the troposphere and the stratosphere . The major jet streams on Earth are westerly winds...
which retarded their advance and they descended when they thought they had passed over the peak but where still in front of the mountain.
- 24 December 1958 – BOACBoacBoac may refer to:* Boac, Marinduque, a municipality in the Southern Philippines* Boac , an American rapper* British Overseas Airways Corporation, a former British state-owned airline...
Bristol BritanniaBristol BritanniaThe Bristol Type 175 Britannia was a British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the British Empire...
312, registration G-AOVD, crashed as a result of a controlled flight into terrain, (CFIT), near Winkton, England while on a test flight. The crash was caused by a combination of bad weather and a failure on the part of both pilots to read the altimeter correctly. The First Officer and 2 other people survived.
- 3 January 1961 - Aero Flight 311Aero Flight 311Aero Flight 311 , often referred to as the Koivulahti air disaster, was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Aero O/Y between Kronoby , Finland and Vaasa. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-3C, crashed near Kvevlax on January 3, 1961, killing all twenty-five people on board...
crashes near KvevlaxKvevlaxKvevlax , is a church village in the municipality of Korsholm, Finland. It is located approximately north of the city of Vaasa. Kvevlax became an independent parish in 1857. Up until January 1, 1973 it was an independent municipality. Kvevlax has a lower grade primary education school, a...
, FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. All twenty-five occupants are killed in the crash, the worst in Finnish history. An investigation later determines that both pilots were intoxicated during the flight, and may have been interrupted by a passenger at the time of the crash.
- 28 February 1966 – AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
astronauts Elliott SeeElliott SeeElliot McKay See, Jr. , was an American astronaut, selected in the second group of astronauts.Elliot See was born in Dallas, Texas and attended Highland Park High School. After initially attending The University of Texas where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, he then attended the United...
and Charles BassettCharles BassettCharles Arthur "Art" Bassett, II was an American engineer and United States Air Force officer. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1963 and assigned to Gemini 9 but died in an airplane crash during training for his first spaceflight.-Early life and education:Bassett was born in Dayton, Ohio,...
were killed when their T-38 TalonT-38 TalonThe Northrop T-38 Talon is a twin-engine supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first supersonic trainer and is also the most produced. The T-38 remains in service as of 2011 in air forces throughout the world....
crashed into a building at Lambert-St. Louis International AirportLambert-St. Louis International AirportLambert-St. Louis International Airport is a Class B international airport serving Greater St. Louis. It is located approximately northwest of downtown St. Louis in unincorporated St. Louis County between Berkeley and Bridgeton. It is the largest and busiest airport in the state with 250 daily...
during bad weather. A NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
investigation concluded that See had been flying too low on his landing approach.
- 29 December 1972 - Eastern Air Lines Flight 401Eastern Air Lines Flight 401Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 1 jet that crashed into the Florida Everglades on the night of December 29, 1972, causing 101 fatalities...
crashes into the Florida Everglades after the flight crew fails to notice the deactivation of the plane's autopilotAutopilotAn autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. An autopilot can refer specifically to aircraft, self-steering gear for boats, or auto guidance of space craft and missiles...
, having been distracted by their own attempts to solve a problem with the landing gear. Out of 163 occupants, 75 survive the crash.
- 27 March 1977 – the Tenerife disasterTenerife disasterThe Tenerife airport disaster occurred on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger aircraft collided on the runway of Los Rodeos Airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands...
; a senior KLM pilot failed to hear, understand or follow tower instructions, causing two Boeing 747Boeing 747The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
s to collide on the runway at TenerifeTenerifeTenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
; 583 people were killed in the worst-ever air disaster.
- 28 December 1978 – United Airlines Flight 173United Airlines Flight 173United Airlines Flight 173, registration N8082U, was a Douglas DC-8-61 en route from Stapleton International Airport in Denver to Portland International Airport on December 28, 1978. When the landing gear was lowered, only one of the three green landing gear indicator lights came on. The plane...
; a flight simulatorFlight simulatorA flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
instructor Captain allowed his Douglas DC-8Douglas DC-8The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined narrow-body passenger commercial jet airliner, manufactured from 1958 to 1972 by the Douglas Aircraft Company...
to run out of fuel while investigating a landing gear problem. United Airlines subsequently changed their policy to disallow "simulator instructor time" in calculating a pilot's "total flight time". It was thought that a contributory factor to the accident is that an instructor can control the amount of fuel in simulator training so that it never runs out.
- 13 January 1982 – Air Florida Flight 90Air Florida Flight 90Air Florida Flight 90 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight from Washington National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia, to Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a stopover at Tampa International Airport in Tampa, Florida...
, a Boeing 737-200Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
with 79 passengers and crew, crashed into the 14th Street Bridge14th Street Bridge (Washington, D.C.)The 14th Street Bridge is a complex of five bridges across the Potomac River, connecting Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Three of the spans are each four-lane automobile bridges—one northbound, one southbound, and one with two general purpose lanes in each direction—that carry Interstate...
and careened into the Potomac RiverPotomac RiverThe Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
shortly after taking off from Washington National Airport. Seventy-five passengers and crew, and four motorists on the bridge were killed. The NTSB report blamed the flight crew for not properly employing the plane's de-icing system.
- 19 February 1985 – above the Pacific OceanPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
the crew of China Airlines Flight 006China Airlines Flight 006China Airlines Flight 006 was a daily non-stop flight departing from Taipei at 16:15 and scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport at 07:00 local time. On February 19, 1985, it was involved in an aircraft upset accident after the No. 4 engine flamed out...
lost control of their Boeing 747SPBoeing 747SPThe Boeing 747SP is a modified version of the Boeing 747 jet airliner which was designed for ultra-long-range flights. The SP stands for "Special Performance". Compared with its predecessor, the 747-100, the 747SP retains its wide-body, four-engine layout, along with its double-deck design, but...
after the No. 4 engine flamed out. The aircraft fell 10,000 feet in twenty seconds and lost a total of 30,000 feet in two-and-a-half minutes before control was regained. There were no fatalities but the aircraft was badly damaged.
- 28 August 1988 – the Ramstein airshow disasterRamstein airshow disasterThe Ramstein airshow disaster is the second-deadliest airshow incident . It took place in front of about 300,000 people on August 28 1988, in Ramstein, West Germany, near the city of Kaiserslautern at the US Ramstein Air Base airshow Flugtag '88.Aircraft of the Italian Air Force display team...
; a member of an Italian aerobatic team misjudged a manoeuvre, causing a mid-air collision. Three pilots and 67 spectators on the ground were killed.
- 31 August 1988 – Delta Air Lines Flight 1141Delta Air Lines Flight 1141Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 was a routine domestic passenger flight between Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport, Salt Lake City, Utah...
crashed on takeoff after the crew forgot to deploy the flapsFlap (aircraft)Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...
for increased lift. Of the 108 crew and passengers on board, fourteen were killed.
- 8 January 1989 – in the Kegworth air disasterKegworth air disasterThe Kegworth Air Disaster occurred on 8 January 1989, when British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737–400, crashed onto the embankment of the M1 motorway near Kegworth, Leicestershire, in England. The aircraft was attempting to conduct an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport...
, a fan blade broke off in the left engine of a new Boeing 737-400Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
, but the pilots mistakenly shut down the right engine. The left engine eventually failed completely and the crew could not restart the right engine before the aircraft crashed. Instrumentation on the 737-400 was different from earlier models, but no flight simulator for the new model was available in Britain.
- 3 September 1989 – The crew of Varig Flight 254Varig Flight 254Varig Flight 254 was a Boeing 737-241, c/n 21006/398, registration PP-VMK, on a scheduled passenger flight from São Paulo, Brazil to Belém, Pará, Brazil, with several intermediate stopovers, on 3 September 1989. Prior to take off from Marabá, Pará, towards the final destination, the crew entered an...
made a series of mistakes so that their Boeing 737Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
ran out of fuel hundreds of miles off-course above the Amazon jungle. Thirteen died in the ensuing crash-landing.
- 21 October 1989 – Tan-Sahsa Flight 414Tan-Sahsa Flight 414Tan-Sahsa Flight 414 was a scheduled flight from Managua , Nicaragua to Tegucigalpa , Honduras.In this hull loss accident, a Boeing 727-200 crashed into a hill near Toncontin International Airport because of a bad landing procedure....
crashed into a hill near Toncontin International AirportToncontín International AirportToncontín International Airport or Teniente Coronel Hernán Acosta Mejía Airport is a civil and military airport that serves Tegucigalpa, Honduras...
in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, because of a bad landing procedure by the pilot. 127 people died in the accident.
- 23 March 1994 – Aeroflot Flight 593Aeroflot Flight 593Aeroflot Flight 593 was an AeroflotRussian International Airlines Airbus A310-304 that crashed into a hillside of the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain range, Kemerovo Oblast, on . The jet was en route from Sheremetyevo International Airport to Hong Kong Kai Tak International Airport with 75 occupants...
crashed on its way to Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. The captain, Yaroslav Kudrinsky, invited his two children into the cockpit, and permitted them to sit at the controls, against airline regulations. His fifteen-year-old son, Eldar Kudrinsky, accidentally disconnected the autopilot, causing the plane to bank to the right before diving. The co-pilot brought up the plane too far, causing it to stall and start a flat spin. The pilots recovered the plane but it crashed into a forest, killing all 75 people on board.
- June 24 1994 - B-52 crashes1994 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crashThe 1994 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash occurred at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, United States on June 24, 1994 when the pilot of a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, "Bud" Holland, flew the aircraft beyond its operational limits and lost control...
in Fairchild Air Force Base. The crash was largely attributed to the personality and behavior of the pilot in command and delayed reactions to the earlier incidents involving this pilot. After the past histories, Mark McGeehan, a USAF squadron commander, refused to allow any of his squadron members to fly with that pilot unless he (McGeehan) was also on the aircraft. McGeehan's attempts to save the plane immediately before the crash were not successful. This crash is now used in military and civilian aviation environments as a case study in teaching crew resource management
- 12 October 1997 – Singer John DenverJohn DenverHenry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
died when his newly-bought Rutan Long-EZRutan Long-EZ-See also:-External links:****...
home-built aircraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Pacific Grove, CaliforniaPacific Grove, CaliforniaPacific Grove is a coastal city in Monterey County, California, USA, with a population of 15,041 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,522 as of the 2000 census...
. The NTSB indicated that Denver lost control of the aircraft while attempting to manipulate the fuel selector handle, which had been placed in a hard-to-reach position by the aircraft's builder. The NTSB cited his unfamiliarity with the aircraft's design as a cause of the crash.
- 16 July 1999 – John F. Kennedy, Jr.John F. Kennedy, Jr.John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. , often referred to as John F. Kennedy, Jr., JFK Jr., John Jr. or John-John, was an American socialite, magazine publisher, lawyer, and pilot. The elder son of U.S. President John F...
died when the Piper SaratogaPiper SaratogaThe Piper PA-32R is a six-seat, high-performance, single engine, all-metal fixed-wing aircraft produced by Piper Aircraft. The design began life as the Piper Lance, a retractable gear version of the Piper Cherokee Six. Later models are known as Saratogas...
light aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic OceanAtlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
off the coast of Martha's VineyardMartha's VineyardMartha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....
, MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. The NTSB declared the crash was caused by "the pilot's failure to maintain control of his airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientationSpatial disorientationSpatial disorientation is the inability to correctly interpret aircraft attitude, altitude or airspeed, in relation to the Earth or point of reference. Spatial disorientation is a condition in which an aircraft pilot's perception of direction does not agree with reality...
". Kennedy did not hold a certification for IFRInstrument flight rulesInstrument flight rules are one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other are visual flight rules ....
flight, but did continue to fly after weather conditions obscured visual landmarksVisual flight rulesVisual flight rules are a set of regulations which allow a pilot to operate an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better than basic VFR weather minimums, as specified in the rules of the...
.
- 31 August 1999 – 65 people died after Lineas Aéreas Privadas Argentinas (LAPA) flight 3142LAPA flight 3142LAPA Flight 3142 was a scheduled Buenos Aires–Córdoba flight operated by the Argentine airline Líneas Aéreas Privadas Argentinas. The service was operated with a Boeing 737-204C, registration LV-WRZ, that crashed on at 20:54 local time while attempting to take off from Aeroparque Jorge Newbery...
crashed after an attempted take-off with the flaps retracted.
- 12 November 2001 – American Airlines Flight 587American Airlines Flight 587American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300, crashed into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens, a borough of New York City, New York, shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport on November 12, 2001. This is the second deadliest U.S...
encountered heavy turbulence and the co-pilot over applied the rudder pedal, turning the Airbus A300Airbus A300The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS...
side to side. Due to the excessive stress, the rudder failed. The A300 spun and hit a residential area, crushing 5 houses and killing 265. Contributing factors included wake turbulenceWake turbulenceWake turbulence is turbulence that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air. This turbulence includes various components, the most important of which are wing vorticies and jetwash. Jetwash refers simply to the rapidly moving gases expelled from a jet engine; it is extremely turbulent,...
and pilot training.
- 24 November 2001 – Crossair Flight 3597Crossair Flight 3597Crossair Flight LX 3597 was an Avro RJ100 regional airliner, registration HB-IXM, on a scheduled flight from Berlin, Germany to Zurich, Switzerland that crashed during its approach to land at Zurich Airport on 24 November 2001...
crashed into a forest on approach to runway 28 at Zurich Airport. This was caused by Captain Lutz descending below the minimum safe altitude of 2400 feet on approach to runway 28 at Zurich.
- 15 April 2002 – Air China Flight 129Air China Flight 129Air China Flight 129 was a flight from Beijing Capital International Airport, Beijing, People's Republic of China to Gimhae International Airport, Busan, South Korea. On April 15, 2002, the jet on this route crashed into a hill near Busan, killing 129 of 166 on board...
, a Boeing 767-200Boeing 767The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...
, crashed near Pusan, South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
killing 128 of the 166 people aboard. The co-pilot had been flying too low.
- 25 October 2002 – eight people, including US Senator Paul WellstonePaul WellstonePaul David Wellstone was a two-term U.S. Senator from the state of Minnesota and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. Before being elected to the Senate in 1990, he was a professor of political science at Carleton College...
, were killed in a crash near Eveleth, MinnesotaEveleth, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 3,865 people, 1,717 households, and 971 families residing in the city. The population density was 611.0 people per square mile . There were 1,965 housing units at an average density of 310.6 per square mile...
. The NTSB concluded that "the flight crew did not monitor and maintain minimum speed."
- 26 February 2004 – a Beech 200Beechcraft Super King AirThe Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation . The King Air line comprises a number of model series that fall into two families: the Model 90 series, Model 100 series , Model 200 series and Model 300 series...
carrying MacedonianRepublic of MacedoniaMacedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
President Boris TrajkovskiBoris TrajkovskiTrajkovski died on 26 February 2004 in a plane crash en route to an economic conference in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aircraft crashed in thick fog and heavy rain on a mountainside in southeastern Herzegovina, near the villages of Huskovici and Rotimlja some eight miles south-south-east...
crashed, killing Trajkovski and eight other passengers. The crash investigation ruled that the accident was caused by "procedural mistakes by the crew" during the landing approach.
- 3 January 2004 – Flash Airlines Flight 604Flash Airlines flight 604Flash Airlines Flight 604 was a charter flight operated by Egyptian charter company Flash Airlines. On 3 January 2004, the Boeing 737-300 crashed into the Red Sea shortly after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, killing all 142 passengers, many of them French tourists, and all six...
dived into the Red SeaRed SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
shortly after take off. All 148 people were killed. The captain had encountered vertigoVertigo (medical)Vertigo is a type of dizziness, where there is a feeling of motion when one is stationary. The symptoms are due to a dysfunction of the vestibular system in the inner ear...
, his control column was slanted to the right, and the captain did not notice. The 737 banked until it was unable to stay in the air. It is EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
's worst air disaster.
- 14 August 2005 – the pilots of Helios Airways Flight 522Helios Airways Flight 522Helios Airways Flight 522 was a Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 flight that crashed into a mountain on 14 August 2005 at 12:04 EEST, north of Marathon and Varnavas, Greece. Rescue teams located wreckage near the community of Grammatiko from Athens...
lost consciousness, most likely due to hypoxiaHypoxia (medical)Hypoxia, or hypoxiation, is a pathological condition in which the body as a whole or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Variations in arterial oxygen concentrations can be part of the normal physiology, for example, during strenuous physical exercise...
caused by failure to switch the cabin pressurization to "Auto" during the pre-flight preparations. The Boeing 737-300Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
crashed, killing all on board.
- 3 May 2006 – Armavia Flight 967Armavia Flight 967Armavia Flight 967 was a flight operated by Armavia, the largest international airline of Armenia on May 3, 2006, from Yerevan in Armenia to Sochi, a Black Sea coastal resort city in Russia...
performed a CFIT, killing all on board, after the pilot lost spatial awareness during a simultaneous turn and climb.
- 27 August 2006 – Comair Flight 191 operating a Bombardier CRJ-100ER aircraft, crashed while taking off from Lexington's Blue Grass Airport. 49 of the 50 on board, including all 47 passengers, were killed.
- 1 January 2007 – Adam Air Flight 574Adam Air Flight 574Adam Air Flight 574 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Adam Air between the Indonesian cities of Surabaya and Manado that disappeared near Polewali in Sulawesi on 1 January 2007. The plane, a Boeing 737-4Q8, was ultimately determined to have crashed into the ocean, from...
; The crew's preoccupation with a malfunction of the inertial reference system diverted their attention from the flight instruments and allowed the increasing descent and bank angle to go unnoticed. Appearing to have become spatially disoriented, the pilots did not detect and appropriately arrest the descent soon enough to prevent loss of control. This caused the aircraft to impact the water at high speed and a steep angle and disintegrate, killing all 102 people on board.
- 7 March 2007 – Garuda Indonesia Flight 200Garuda Indonesia Flight 200Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 was the scheduled domestic passenger flight of a Boeing 737-497 operated by Garuda Indonesia between Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The aircraft crashed and burst into flames while landing at Adisucipto International Airport on March 7, 2007...
; poor Crew Resource ManagementCrew Resource ManagementCrew resource management or Cockpit resource management is a procedure and training system in systems where human error can have devastating effects. Used primarily for improving air safety, CRM focuses on interpersonal communication, leadership, and decision making in the cockpit...
and the failure to extend the flaps led the aircraft to run off the end of the runway after landing. Twenty-two of the 140 occupants were killed.
- 10 April 2010 – 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crashThe 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash occurred on 10 April 2010, when a Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft of the Polish Air Force crashed near the city of Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 people on board...
; during a descent towards Russia's Smolensk North Airport, the flight crew of the Polish presidential jet ignores automatic warnings and attempts a risky landing in heavy fog. The Tupolev Tu-154M descends too low and crashes into a nearby forest; all of the occupants are killed, including Polish president Lech KaczynskiLech KaczynskiLech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
, his wife Maria KaczynskaMaria KaczynskaMaria Kaczyńska was the First Lady of Poland from 2005-10 as the wife of Lech Kaczyński, late President of Poland.-Early and personal life:Born as Maria Helena Mackiewicz in Machowo to Lidia and Czesław Mackiewicz. Her father fought in the Vilnius Armia Krajowa , while an uncle fought in the...
, and numerous government and military officials.
- 28 July 2010 – Airblue Flight 202Airblue Flight 202Airblue Flight 202 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight which crashed on 28 July 2010 near Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, killing all 146 passengers and six crew on board. It is the deadliest air accident to occur in Pakistan to date...
crashes into the Margalla Hills due to the pilot going the wrong way, killing all 152 occupants aboard.
- 20 June 2011 - RusAir Flight 9605RusAir Flight 9605RusAir Flight 9605 was a scheduled RusAir flight, operated as a RusLine service between Domodedovo International Airport and Petrozavodsk Airport using Tupolev Tu-134A-3 equipment, that crashed on approach to Petrozavodsk shortly after 23:40 local time on 20 June 2011, killing 45 people and...
crashes onto a motorway while on final approach to Petrozavodsk AirportPetrozavodsk AirportPetrozavodsk Airport is a joint civil-military airport in Russia located northwest of Petrozavodsk in Besovets, Shuya Rural Settlement . It services small airliners. It is a minor airfield with 12 parking stands and a small amount of tarmac space.The airfield has seen military use as an...
in western RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, after the intoxicated navigator encourages the captain to land in heavy fog. Forty-three people die in the crash, while only five survive.
See also
- Human factors in air safety
- AirmanshipAirmanshipAirmanship is skill and knowledge applied to aerial navigation, similar to seamanship in maritime navigation. Airmanship covers a broad range of desirable behaviors and abilities in an aviator...
- Controlled flight into terrainControlled flight into terrainControlled flight into terrain describes an accident in which an airworthy aircraft, under pilot control, is unintentionally flown into the ground, a mountain, water, or an obstacle. The term was coined by engineers at Boeing in the late 1970s...
- Human reliabilityHuman reliabilityHuman reliability is related to the field of human factors engineering and ergonomics, and refers to the reliability of humans in fields such as manufacturing, transportation, the military, or medicine...
- Korean Air Lines Flight 007
- Spatial disorientationSpatial disorientationSpatial disorientation is the inability to correctly interpret aircraft attitude, altitude or airspeed, in relation to the Earth or point of reference. Spatial disorientation is a condition in which an aircraft pilot's perception of direction does not agree with reality...
- Sensory illusions in aviationSensory Illusions in AviationBecause human senses are adapted for use on the ground, navigating by sensory input alone during flight can be dangerous: sensory input does not always accurately reflect the movement of the aircraft, causing sensory illusions. These illusions can be extremely dangerous for pilots.-Vestibular...
- Jet lagJet lagJet lag, medically referred to as desynchronosis, is a physiological condition which results from alterations to the body's circadian rhythms; it is classified as one of the circadian rhythm sleep disorders...