Flights Gone Wrong

Real stories. Deeper understanding.

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Every event we cover, by year.

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9 events

  1. Photo: Mila Daniel / CC BY-SA 4.0

    Helios Airways Flight 522

    Hypoxia on a flight to Athens

    Open event

    Helios Airways Flight 522, a Boeing 737-300 flying from Larnaca to Athens and Prague on 14 August 2005, never pressurised because a selector had been left in manual after overnight maintenance, and the pilots were overcome by hypoxia as the aircraft climbed on autopilot. It flew on unresponsive for almost three hours, circling near Athens until its fuel ran out, and crashed into hills near Grammatiko, killing all 121 people on board.

    2 video perspectives

  2. Photo: Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland / CC BY-SA 2.0

    Air Transat Flight 236

    The glide to the Azores

    Open event

    On 24 August 2001 an Air Transat Airbus A330 flying from Toronto to Lisbon lost all its fuel over the Atlantic through a leak in its right engine, and both engines stopped. The crew glided it to Lajes in the Azores and landed, and all 306 people on board survived.

    2 video perspectives

  3. Photo: simon butler / CC BY 2.0

    Emery Worldwide Flight 17

    A disconnected elevator tab at Sacramento

    Open event

    Emery Worldwide Flight 17, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8 cargo jet, pitched up uncontrollably as it took off from Sacramento Mather Airport on 16 February 2000 because a bolt had come out of the right elevator control tab. The crew fought for about two minutes to fly back to the airport but crashed into an automobile salvage yard in Rancho Cordova, and all three crew members died.

    1 video perspective

  4. Photo: Frank Jäger / CC BY-SA 2.0

    Alaska Airlines Flight 261

    The worn jackscrew off the California coast

    Open event

    On 31 January 2000 Alaska Airlines Flight 261, an MD-83 flying from Puerto Vallarta to San Francisco, lost pitch control when the worn threads of the jackscrew that moves its horizontal stabiliser failed. It dived inverted into the Pacific Ocean off Anacapa Island, California, and all 88 people on board were killed.

    2 video perspectives

  5. Photo: Bill Abbott / CC BY-SA 2.0

    Aloha Airlines Flight 243

    A fuselage failure over Hawaii

    Open event

    On 28 April 1988 about 18 feet of the upper fuselage of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 tore away at 24,000 feet between Hilo and Honolulu, after fatigue cracks along a lap joint linked up. The crew landed at Kahului on Maui 13 minutes later, and 94 of the 95 people on board survived, but flight attendant Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing was swept out of the aircraft and never found.

    3 video perspectives

  6. Photo: Harcmac60 / CC BY-SA 3.0

    Japan Air Lines Flight 123

    The 747 that lost its tail fin over Japan

    Open event

    On 12 August 1985 Japan Air Lines Flight 123, a Boeing 747 flying from Tokyo to Osaka with 524 people on board, lost most of its tail fin and all four hydraulic systems when its rear pressure bulkhead burst, 12 minutes after takeoff. The crew kept it flying for more than 30 minutes using engine power before it struck a mountain ridge in Gunma Prefecture, and 520 people were killed; four passengers survived.

    3 video perspectives

  7. Photo: Andrew Thomas from Shrewsbury, UK / CC BY-SA 2.0

    Air Canada Flight 143

    The Gimli emergency landing

    Open event

    On 23 July 1983 an almost new Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel at 41,000 feet over northern Ontario, after its fuel load was worked out in pounds instead of kilograms. Captain Robert Pearson glided it to a landing on the disused air force runway at Gimli, Manitoba, and all 69 people on board survived.

    1 video perspective

  8. Photo: Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland / CC BY-SA 2.0

    Eastern Air Lines Flight 855

    All three engines lost over the sea

    Open event

    On 5 May 1983 all three engines of an Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-1011 lost their oil on a flight from Miami to Nassau, because mechanics had fitted the engines' chip detectors without their O-ring seals. The crew restarted one engine at about 4,000 feet after a powerless descent over the sea and landed back at Miami, and all 172 people on board were unhurt.

    1 video perspective

  9. Photo: Stuart Jessup / CC BY-SA 2.0

    American Airlines Flight 191

    The DC-10 that lost an engine on takeoff at O'Hare

    Open event

    On 25 May 1979 the left engine and pylon of American Airlines Flight 191, a DC-10 bound for Los Angeles, tore away from the wing as it lifted off from Chicago O'Hare, damage that maintenance work had caused weeks earlier. The aircraft rolled over and crashed just beyond the airport 31 seconds later, killing all 271 people on board and two people on the ground.

    3 video perspectives