The following is a list of known disasters in Antarctica which have resulted in fatalities. It includes disasters which happened on land, as well as in the waters surrounding the continent.
Table YearTypeFatalitiesIncidentLocationComments 1819 Shipwreck 644 San Telmo (Spanish ship) Drake Passage, Southern Ocean 1979 Aircraft 257 Air New Zealand Flight 901 Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica 2019 Aircraft 38 2019 Chilean Air Force C-130 crash Drake Passage, Antarctica Aircraft lost en route from Chile to Teniente R. Marsh Airport, King George Island 2010 Shipwreck 22 South Korean trawler Insung Ross Sea, near the McMurdo Station 5 confirmed dead, 17 missing and presumed dead 1976 Aircraft 11 Livingston Island plane crash Livingston Island, Antarctica 1985 Aircraft 10 Nelson Island plane crash Nelson Island, Antarctica 1960 Fire (building) 8 Mirny Station fire Mirny Station, Antarctica 1823 Shipwreck 7 Drake Passage, Southern Ocean Most likely a legend 1958 Aircraft 7 Cape Hallett Bay plane crash Cape Hallett Bay, Antarctica 6 survivors 1966 Aircraft 6 Ross Ice Shelf plane crash Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica 1986 Aircraft 6 Philippi Glacier plane crash Philippi Glacier, Antarctica 1961 Aircraft 5 Wilkes Station plane crash Wilkes Station, Antarctica 1956 Aircraft 4 McMurdo Station plane crash McMurdo Station, Antarctica 4 survivors 1994 Aircraft 4 Rothera Research Station plane crash near the Rothera Research Station, Antarctica 2010 Aircraft 4 Terre Adélie helicopter crash near the Dumont d'Urville Station, Terre Adélie, Antarctica 1946 Aircraft 3 Antarctica PBM Mariner crash Thurston Island, Antarctica 6 survivors 1958 Aircraft 3 Marguerite Bay plane crash Marguerite Bay, Antarctica 4 survivors 1965 Tractor 3 Tractor falls into crevasse Milorgknausane nunataks, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica 1979Aircraft3Molodezhnaya Ice Station plane crashnear Molodezhnaya Ice Station, Antarctica11 survivors 1989 Aircraft 3 Mirny Station plane crash Mirny Station, Antarctica 1999 Aircraft 3 Terre Adélie helicopter crash near the Dumont d'Urville Station, Terre Adélie, Antarctica 2013 Aircraft 3 Mount Elizabeth plane crash Mount Elizabeth, Antarctica 2012 Shipwreck 3 Jeong Woo 2 (South Korean fishing vessel) Ross Sea, near the McMurdo Station 3 missing were presumed dead, 7 burn injuries, 2 serious 1929 Aircraft 2 Whaler scouting flight crash west of Scott Island, Antarctica 1948 Fire (building) 2 Hope Bay fire Base D, Hope Bay, Graham Land, Antarctica 1 survivor 1959 Aircraft 2 Marble Point plane crash Marble Point, Antarctica 3 survivors 1969 Aircraft 2 Mount McLennan helicopter crash Taylor Valley, Antarctica 6 survivors 1987 Aircraft 2 D-59 plane crash 1390 km northwest of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica 11 survivors 2008 Aircraft 2 Neumayer Station II helicopter crash near Neumayer Station II, Antarctica 3 survivors 2012Fire (building) 2 Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station fire Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Base, Antarctica 1 minor burn injury 2018 Work accident 2 2018 McMurdo mishap McMurdo Station, Antarctica Two contractors asphyxiated maintaining fire suppression system 2003 Attack by a Leopard Seal 1 Snorkeling scientist dragged underwater by a Leopard Seal and drowned.Leopard seal attacks and kills British scientist snorkelling off Antarctic coast , The Independent, 24 July 2003.Seal kills scientist in Antarctic , CNN, 23 July 2003. Rothera Research Station, Adelaide Island, Antarctica 2008 Fire (building) 1 Progress Station fire Progress Station, Antarctica 2 serious burn injuries 2016 Snowmobile 1 McMurdo Shear Zone Accident McMurdo Shear Zone, Antarctica2016Aircraft1Pilot crevasse fatality unloading slingDavis Station, Antarctica 2022 Rogue wave 1 Viking Polaris cruise ship Drake Passage, Southern Ocean 4 injuries
See also
List of disasters in Australia by death toll List of disasters in Canada by death toll List of disasters in Croatia by death toll List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll List of disasters in New Zealand by death toll List of disasters in Poland by death toll List of disasters in the United States by death toll
Notes
References
External links MapReport.com's Antarctica, Disasters Timeline CoolAntarctica.com's Antarctica Fire History