No one really likes to think about airplane crashes — especially when they have an upcoming flight. Even though most consider airplanes a little dangerous, the truth is that crashes are actually a lot rarer than we think. There are many “near flight collisions” that happen, but even then there’s several hundred meters worth of distance between the two planes.
What about the planes that do crash? While we’re all about bringing the crazy and the funny around here, some things are just too crazy to laugh at. Like airplane crashes. If you’re ready to step back, gasp, and get your O-M-G on, then you really need to look at this list of terrible plane crashes — we found 5 of them that you should definitely hear about:
1. April 2010 — Polish President Isn’t Even Safe…
You would think that the President of Poland would be in relative safety from a plane crash. However, that’s just not the case at all. In April of 2010, there was a plane crash that killed 96 people — including Lech Kaczynski, the former President of Poland. The plane was attempting to reach Smolensk airport in Russia, but the fog was just too dense to see through.
2. One Survivor?
In June of 2009, there was a plane crash that killed 152 people. The plane was only carrying 153 — which means that there was one survivor. The survivor was actually a 14-year old, who was in the Indian Ocean waiting for rescue. The jet was an Airbus A310-300 that was suspected by many to not be kept in the proper order. The now 16-year old girl is doing well, and tries to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible. The plane was coming from the Comoros Islands, which used to be a former French colony.
3. June 2009 — 200 dead?
Everyone loves a good mystery — except when it comes to airplane crashes. If you’re thinking about becoming a detective, try this story — just how do you find 228 people that have disappeared off the map?
That’s what investigators had to deal with when an Airbus A330 headed into rocky territory and heavy turbulence four hours into a flight from Rio to Paris. It’s a pretty standard flight, but unfortunately passengers just weren’t lucky. There was a lot of bad weather right off the coast of Brazil, which meant a lot of rockiness for the passengers inside. The plane crashed into waters about 217 miles away from Brazil.
4. August 2005 — Watch Your Cabin Pressure!
More tragedy here too — a Helios Airways flight from Cyprus to Prague. Now if you were to look on the map, you’d realize that there’s really not that much distance between the two countries. It should have been a routine flight. However, the cabin pressure fell dramatically, which actually knocked the two pilots unconscious.
What really created the serious problem was the fact that the door to the cockpit was locked — the rest of the flight crew tried to get the attention of the pilots, only to find that they couldn’t open the door. The plane simply ran out of fuel, and plunged the entire population aboard the plane to their deaths.
5. September 11th, 2001 — A Day We Will Never Forget
The best way to end this short list is with acknowledgement of a plane crash that did more than just change the lives of the people on board — it also affected thousands of people off the plane. This is the day where Al-Qaida terrorists hijacked four planes, flying two of them directly into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. It killed 3,000 people in the attack. The 3rd plane went into the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed into a field near Pittsburgh. It’s a day that no American will ever forget — and it’s actually changed the way we think about air travel today.
Overall, it’s a short list — and we certainly could have included more. Looking back on these plane crashes is a reminder of why we have so many laws about air safety — it really does make a difference.