In this article, we will skim through the deadliest air disasters that shook the world to its core....
COVER STORY
When the Wright brothers set off on their first airplane, they were quite aware of the risks involved during the flight. The duration of their first flight was 12 seconds, but it paved the path for the humanity to travel around the world not in 80 days, but in mere hours. The aeronautical industry has come a long way since then and now air travel is considered to be one of the safest modes of transportation. The possibility of an aircraft falling out from the sky or a flight operation ending in jeopardy is one in 20 million. However, scientists and engineers have been able to manufacture safe aircrafts due to the air crashes in the past. In this article, we will skim through the deadliest air disasters that shook the world to its core.
Grand Canyon crash 1956
On 30 June 1956, a Douglas DC7 operated by United Airlines, collided with Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation operated by Transworld Airlines mid-air resulting in 128 fatalities. The Grand Canyon crash is regarded by many analysts as the first fatal accident involving commercial aircrafts. The fact that the two aircrafts collided mid-air was quite devastating. An investigating committee was constituted by the US government to probe the accident. Both aircrafts lacked the fancy and advanced equipment which the modern-day jet liners possess. The Lockheed Constellation was quite a prominent aircraft in terms of design and structure as it had three rudders at its tail section. The investigating committee analyzed all aspects of the incident and concluded that the crash was a by-product of primitive flight dispatch system and the inability of the crew of the two aircrafts to take evasive action on time. In the wake of this incident the whole industry was revolutionized and reforms were introduced to avoid such disasters from happening in the future.
1961 Ndola United Nations crash
On 18 September 1961, DC6 belonging to the United Nations crashed in Ndola, Zambia. The UN Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjöld and 15 others were killed in this air disaster. Dag Hammarskjöld was on a nationwide tour of Zambia on a peace keeping mission. It was widely believed that the UN’s DC6 was taken down deliberately by insurgents fighting in the outskirts of Ndola. Witnesses reported seeing flames in the air just before the aircraft went down. A high-level investigative committee was set up by the United Nations to nab the culprits behind the crash. The investigative committee had no CVR and FDR, as the older generations of aircrafts lacked these crucial instruments. The investigative team found out the aircraft was not shot down by a missile, and ruled out any possibility of foul play. The committee failed to uncover the reasons behind this crash, and its final report led to the rise of numerous conspiracy theories. The UN constituted another high-level investigative committee to probe the matter. The investigators discovered that the pilots were using outdated approach charts that did not indicate many mountainous terrains present in the area. Plus, the crew of the DC6 was overworked and was suffering from fatigue and sleep deprivation, which limited their airmanship ability.
KLM and Pan-Am collision
On 27 March 1977, a 747 operated by KLM and another Boeing 747, collided with one another on the runway of Los Redoes airport situated in Canary Island. This accident is regarded as one of the deadliest commercial aviation crashes that claimed the lives of 583 people. Boeing 747 - also known as the “queen of the sky” - is considered the largest passenger aircraft. Captain Robert Bragg, who was serving as a co-pilot on the Pan-Am flight, was among the few lucky ones who survived the crash. The conditions that day were quite foggy, limiting the visibility. An act of terror had forced the authorities to shut down the Gran Canaria Airport and halt the flight operations. Thus, many flights were diverted to Canary Island. Los Redoes Airport was small, and lacked the manpower and resources to handle the heavy influx of incoming diverted flights. However, by evening, Gran Canaria Airport was opened and flight operations were resumed. The flight operators and the air traffic controllers now faced an overwhelming task of getting the aircrafts back in the air. Plus, the fog began to settle in as the evening approached. The investigative team discovered that fog was the primary contributing factor in the crash. However, the main culprit behind the collision was the KLM crew. The KLM crew assumed the air traffic controller (ATC) had given them the clearance to take off, while the Pan-Am aircraft was still present in the middle of the runway. The fog made it impossible for the KLM crew to observe the Pan-Am Boeing 747. Poor communication between pilots and the ATC led to a catastrophic disaster which could have been averted easily.
Air India flight 182
On 23 June 1985, a Boeing 747 operated by Air India disintegrated in mid-air, and lost contact with the air traffic control while flying over Atlantic Ocean. The flight was operating on Montreal– London–Delhi route. An air crash investigation team was assembled by the authorities concerned to investigate this accident. The investigators learned that the 747 was flying with five, rather than four conventional engines required by Boeing 747 for safe flight operations. The engine, however, was mounted on the rear end of one wing and was not operational. The Air India, in order to get one of its engines back to India in a cost-effective manner, opted for this specific strategy. Getting an additional engine led to the production of an asymmetrical thrust. However, the pilots were compensating for it by utilizing rudder, as indicated by the flight data recorder. The cockpit voice recorder painted a disturbing picture, as it cut off the recording quite suddenly. The investigators got the smoking gun which they were looking for when they discovered the residue of explosives found in the wreckage. Further, employees at the Montreal Airport revealed that they loaded a suitcase on the plane whose owner never boarded the aircraft. This baggage was suspected of housing the explosive materials, which the investigators claim detonated mid-flight at cruising altitude. The bag belonged to Talwinder Singh Parmar, a Sikh separatist militant and fighter, fighting for the formation of Khalistan [an independent state for Sikhs]. His militant group was accused of masterminding many other attacks that attacked the sovereignty of India. Talwinder Singh Parmar was eventually apprehended and was tried by the justice system.
American Airlines Flight 77
The 9/11 incident forever changed the world. Millions across the globe viewed the aircrafts crashing into the Twin Towers in New York City and one in Pentagon with a feeling of dread. American Airlines Flight 77 took off from Washington Dulles International Airport, but the ATC lost verbal contact with the aircraft once it reached cruising altitude. Though the aircraft was visible on the radar, the crew did not comply with the instructions given by the ATC. The air traffic controllers watched in horror as the plane began to turn back towards Washington and started to descend rapidly. Minutes later the aircraft disappeared from the secondary radar. The air traffic controllers tuned in to primary radar to monitor the movement of the aircraft. The plane disappeared from the primary radar, too, and minutes later the controllers got the word that American Airlines Flight 77 had crashed into Pentagon. On the same day, minutes before the American Airlines 77 crash, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into one of the Twin Towers of World Trade Centre in New York City. United Airlines Flight 175 which departed from Los Angles and was bound for Boston crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Centre, minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower. The fourth hijack attempt failed as the passengers on board United Airlines Flight 93 overpowered the hijackers, but failed to prevent the aircraft from crashing to a field in Pennsylvania. Al-Qaeda accepted the responsibility of hijacking all four aircrafts. Concrete steps were taken and many new regulations were enforced all across the globe by the aviation regulators. For instance, now the crew has to keep the cockpit door shut during flight. In addition, passengers are thoroughly screened at major airports in the world.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
MH-370 crash disaster is actually a mystery till now. Several pieces of marine debris found on the coast of Africa and the islands nearby have been confirmed as pieces of Flight 370. On 8 March 2014, Boeing 777 operated by Malaysia Airlines took off from Kuala Lumpur. The ATC lost all contact with the doomed flight while the aircraft was flying over Phuket Island. The Malaysian authorities announced the disappearance after more than six hours. Initially, the rescue operations were confined to the Strait of Malacca only. However, Malaysian military claimed that its radars detected MH-370 flying over Malaysia after losing all contacts with the ground. The aircraft made a sharp turn while flying over the city of Penang, before heading south towards the Indian Ocean. Penang was the hometown of the pilot-in-command of MH-370, Captain Zahari Ahmed Shah. Critics and analysts believed that whoever was present in the cockpit flew over Penang to take a last look at it and bid farewell to the city. Satellite data further revealed that MH-370 kept flying in southern direction towards Australia over Indian Ocean for about seven hours.
This new data forced the authorities to look for the aircraft in the Indian Ocean. However, the Indian Ocean is regarded as one of the largest water bodies in the world and looking for the plane in it is like searching for a needle in a haystack. The search operation was called off in 2018. Aviation experts claimed that one of the pilots, most likely the captain, depressurized the cabin once the first officer left the cockpit and turned off the transponder of the aircraft which provides accurate coordinates. Then he continued flying the aircraft for seven hours, before the aircraft finally ran out of fuel and crashed into the Indian Ocean. Many conspiracy theories are associated with this ghost flight, but the disappearance remains a mystery.
One can only hope that improvement in technology will further minimize the risk of aircraft crashes in the future.
