5 – Vladivostokavia 352,
- On the 4th of July 2001, Vladivostok Air Flight 352, the commercial flight from Yekaterinburg to Vladivostok, lost control and crashed while approaching Irkutsk Airport.
- 136 passengers and nine flight crew members were killed, making it the third deadliest aircraft crash over Russian territory.
- As the plane approached Irkutsk, the pilots had lowered the landing gear, not realising that the plane was banking. The aircraft was at a 45-degree angle with the nose dropping, and the co-pilot tried to rectify this by violently pulling back on the control column, causing an immediate stall.
- Unfortunately, at this point the plane was too close to the ground and impact was inevitable. The pilot’s last words were, ‘That’s all guys! Fuck!’
4 – Pacific Airlines 773,
- On the 7th of May 1964, a disturbed man aboard Pacific Airlines Flight 773 told fellow passengers that he was going to kill himself. This was pre-security checks, so he’d actually managed to bring a loaded handgun aboard.
- The enraged killer shot both the pilot and co-pilot, and then turned the gun on himself. Without a pilot, the plane plummeted into a Californian hillside, killing all forty-four people on board.
- According to the flight recording, the last words spoken were: ‘Skipper’s shot! We’ve been shot. I was trying to help.’
- Fortunately the chances of this happening nowadays are virtually nil, as you can’t even board a plane with a plastic spoon or pencil eraser. Try it and you’ll end up in a headlock on the floor. ‘Get down! We know what you’re planning to do with that!’
3 – Air New Zealand 901,
- On the 28th of November 1979, Air New Zealand’s Antarctic sightseeing flight, Flight 901, crashed into Mount Erebus, killing all 237 passengers and twenty crew members.
- The crash was caused by pilot error and the resulting outcry from the public led to the establishment of the Royal Commission of Enquiry. Most of the wreckage still remains on the mountain today.
- The pilot’s last words: “Actually, these conditions don’t look very good at all, do they?”
2 – LOT Polish Airlines 5055,
- On the 9th of May 1987, LOT Polish Airlines’ Flight 5055 crashed into the Kabaty Woods outside of Warsaw Poland.
- The flight never made it to its New York destination, as the engine shaft disintegrated and exploded due to faulty bearings. All 183 people on board died, making it the deadliest aviation to ever occur on Polish soil and the deadliest overall accident of 1987.
- The poetic final words from the flight crew were: ‘Goodnight, goodbye, we perish!’
1 – TransAsia Airways Flight 235,
- On the 4th of February 2015, TransAsia Airways Flight 235 experienced a fatal crash just two minutes after taking off from Taipei Songshan Airport. Forty-three of the fifty-eight on board died.
- After an engine flameout, the pilot mistakenly switched off the plane’s second engine, which was the only working one. This was the second fatal accident involving a TransAsia Airways ATR aircraft within seven months.
- The Aviation Safety Council’s report showed that Captain Liao Jian-zong had failed the simulated training less a year earlier because he could not demonstrate knowledge of how to deal with an engine flameout on takeoff.
- Liao’s last words were, ‘Wow, pulled back the wrong side throttle…’
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