This list of accidents and incidents involving general aviation is grouped by the years in which the accidents or incidents occurred. "General aviation" here includes private as well as corporate aircraft operating under general aviation rules, i.e. not flights of airliners, commuter or military aircraft.
Overall, this is an incomplete listing, but is intended to be a complete listing of notable accidents and incidents with Wikipedia articles and those involving notable persons with Wikipedia articles. For more exhaustive lists, see the Crash Record OfficeHome Aircraft Crash Record Office or the Aviation Safety Network.Home Aviation Safety Network
Introduction
General aviation safety in America
The number of deaths per passenger-mile on commercial airlines in the United States between 2000 and 2010 was about 0.2 deaths per 10 billion passenger-miles. For driving, the rate was 150 per 10 billion vehicle-miles for 2000 : 750 times higher per mile than for flying in a commercial airplane.
General aviation safety in Europe
About three accidents per day are reported in Europe. As the reporting of every GA accident and incident is not mandatory everywhere, these figures may be higher. However, most major accidents are likely to be reflected due to involvement of outside authorities. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the national civil aviation authorities support and encourage the collection of light aircraft accident data in order to provide more in-depth statistics and analysis.
In the UK, there were 27 fatal accidents involving GA aircraft in 2007, resulting in the loss of 48 lives. This compares with 16 accidents claiming a total of 19 lives the previous year, and although the 2007 statistics are higher than average, they are not exceptional.
1912 May 13 – A Flanders Monoplane crashed at Brooklands, England, killing the pilot and his passenger. The accident was investigated by the Royal Aero Club, which issued the first-ever report into an aviation accident and established the science of aviation accident investigation.
1935 August 15 – Wiley Post and passenger Will Rogers died in the crash of Post's modified seaplane en route from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Point Barrow, Alaska, while taking off from a lagoon, after landing to ask for directions.
1937 July 2 – Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean en route in a Lockheed Electra 10E to Howland Island during an attempt to circumnavigate the world.
1952 June 28 – A private Temco Swift collided with American Airlines Flight 910, a Douglas DC-6 on final approach to Dallas Love Field. The pilot and single passenger aboard the Swift were killed on impact with the ground; the DC-6 made a safe landing with no injuries to the 55 passengers and five crew.
1959 February 3 – A Beechcraft Bonanza carrying musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Jiles Richardson crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa in what become known as The Day the Music Died.
1963 March 5 – A Piper PA-24 Comanche carrying country music performers Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hawkshaw Hawkins crashed during a flight to Nashville, Tennessee, killing all four on board the aircraft.
1964 July 31 – A Beechcraft Debonair piloted by country musician and songwriter Jim Reeves crashed on a flight from Batesville, Arkansas to Nashville, Tennessee, killing Reeves and his manager/pianist.
1969 August 31 – A Cessna 172 carrying former world heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano crashed in Newton, Iowa, killing Marciano, the pilot, and another passenger.
1971 May 28 – An Aero Commander 680 Super crashed near Roanoke, Virginia, killing highly decorated World War II veteran Audie Murphy and five others on board.
1972 October 16 – A twin-engine Cessna 310 carrying U.S. Representative Nick Begich of Alaska and House Majority Leader Hale Boggs of Louisiana disappeared during a flight from Anchorage, Alaska to Juneau, Alaska. An unsuccessful 39-day search was called off on November 24; the aircraft's wreckage and Begich and Boggs' bodies were never found. December 31 – Baseball player Roberto Clemente died when his chartered Douglas DC-7 crashed into the ocean off Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, immediately after takeoff.
1973 January 22 – The personal Piaggio P.136L-2 airplane of Alexander Onassis crashed at Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece.Mr Alexander Onassis The Times London 24 January 1973 page 18 A few seconds after takeoff from runway 33, the plane's right wing dropped and stayed down, and the plane crashed shortly after losing balance. The pilot, Donald McCusker, and another passenger both suffered serious injuries in the crash, and Onassis died the next day from his injuries.Mario Modiano. "Onassis son dies from air crash injuries.", The Times London, 24 January 1973, pg. 10 Reports into the crash concluded that it had occurred as a result of the reversing of the aileron connecting cables during the installation of a new control column. Manslaughter proceedings initiated against McCusker were later dropped,News in Brief The Times London 13 February 1973 page 6 and six people were also charged over Onassis's death in January 1974, with their indictment indicating that faulty controls had been fitted to his plane.News in Brief The Times London 19 January 1974 page 6 Onassis's father, Aristotle Onassis refused to believe his son's death was an accident.Onassis reward for proof on son's fatal crash The Times London 24 December 1974 page 1 September 20 – Musicians Jim Croce and Maury Muehleisen were killed in a Beechcraft E18S due to fly from Natchitoches, Louisiana to Sherman, Texas. The plane crashed into trees shortly after takeoff from Natchitoches Regional Airport.
1974 February 16 – a Beechcraft Baron aircraft registered VH-FWR disappeared on a flight from Gladstone to Longreach in Australia. April 18 – A Piper PA-23 Aztec entered an active runway at Luton Airport and was struck by a Court Line BAC One-Eleven taking off. The pilot on board the Aztec were killed and his passenger was injured. All 91 people on board the One-Eleven survived after the take-off was aborted.
1977 August 1 – A Bell 206B news helicopter piloted by Francis Gary Powers crashed in a park near Encino, Los Angeles due to fuel starvation.
1979 August 2 – Cessna 501, N15NY. Thurman Munson, catcher for the New York Yankees, died in a crash of his personal jet while practicing touch-and-go landings at Akron-Canton Regional Airport. August 24 – A Stearman biplane, aircraft registration number N48784,Airframe information and photographs of N48784.Photograph of N48784 with its original (pre-crash) United States Army Air Corps markings. Lloyd Stearman can be seen climbing into the front cockpit while Robert Cummings converses with Pelham Burnett (Lt. Col., USAF, retired), father of Jacquelyn Burnett (crash victim). flew into electrical transmission lines that cross Lake Natoma at Mississippi Bar.National Transportation Safety Board report number LAX79FVG71.THE STATE-Los Angeles Times – ProQuest Archiver – Aug 26, 1979.Photograph of electrical transmission lines at Mississippi Bar, Lake Natoma, California. Jacquelyn Burnett, a passenger in the biplane, was killed."Funeral today for Jackie Burnett". The Citrus Heights Bulletin, August 29, 1979, page 1. The pilot, Stephen Francis Williams, was convicted of manslaughter."Pilot gets jail, fine, in fatal crash". The Orangevale News, August 27, 1980, page 1. His conviction marked the first time in United States history that a pilot was held criminally responsible for the death of a passenger. Williams had previously killed his own 12-year-old daughter, Patricia Ann Williams, by attempting a takeoff in dense fog at the Salinas Municipal Airport."Fatal Crash". The Orangevale News, August 27, 1980, page 3.
1981 August 9 – Cessna 210M VH-MDX disappeared in the Barrington Tops National Park area.
1985 December 31 – Popular singer and actor Ricky Nelson and six others died in a Douglas DC-3 near De Kalb, Texas, United States during an off-airport emergency landing attempt prompted by dense smoke in the cabin; the aircraft struck trees and utility poles, suffering severe damage and bursting into flames. The National Transportation Safety Board was unable to verify the origin of the smoke, stating in the final report that "... the ignition and fuel source were not determined."
1987 May 28 – Mathias Rust flew illegally into Soviet airspace in a Cessna 172 and landed in Moscow's Red Square.
1990 August 27 – A Bell 206B Jet Ranger helicopter crashed into a hillside in low visibility soon after takeoff near East Troy, Wisconsin, United States, killing influential American blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and four others.
1991 October 25 – Bill Graham and two other people were killed when their Bell 206 crashed in poor weather west of Vallejo, California.
1993 April 19 – After a propeller blade separation during cruise, a Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 crashed into a farm silo in low visibility about south of Dubuque, Iowa, killing Governor of South Dakota George S. Mickelson and seven others. Later that April, investigators' findings prompted the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to order the immediate inspection of Hartzell propellers similar to those on the accident aircraft. The accident was attributed to metal fatigue of the propeller hub caused by improper design and manufacturing.
1996 April 11 – Cessna 177B, N35207. Jessica Dubroff, a seven-year-old pilot trainee who was attempting to become the youngest person to fly an airplane across the United States, died when her aircraft crashed after takeoff from Cheyenne Regional Airport in Cheyenne, Wyoming. December 24 – A Learjet 35A crashed near Lebanon, New Hampshire which led to the longest missing aircraft search in that state's history, lasting almost three years.
1997 October 12 – singer-songwriter John Denver was killed when the Long-EZ aircraft he was piloting crashed just off the coast of California at Pacific Grove, California, shortly after taking off from the Monterey Peninsula Airport.
1999 March 23 – Stanford graduate and multi-talented test pilot for Cirrus Aircraft, Scott D. Anderson, was killed in a plane crash while flight-testing the Cirrus SR20 before it went on sale. The problem occurred when his plane experienced an aileron jam during experimental stress-testing. He went down in the yard of a prison approximately 400 meters from the Duluth International Airport. July 16 – John F. Kennedy Jr and passengers, wife Carolyn Bessette and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette, were killed when the Piper PA-32R-301 Saratoga II he was piloting, registration number N9253N, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during a flight from Fairfield Township, Essex County, New Jersey bound for Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the crash was caused by: "the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation".NTSB Accident Report NYC99MA178 National Transportation Safety Board 2000-12-12 August 7 – Pulitzer Prize–winning publisher Ted Natt boarded a helicopter from Oysterville, Washington to Kelso, Washington, which later crashed six miles east of Knappa, Oregon. The crash was not discovered until September 11. October 25 – A Learjet 35 flying between Orlando, Florida and Dallas, Texas crashed after flying for almost four hours and , until it ran out of fuel. Among the six people on board were golf star Payne Stewart and Bruce Borland.
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