List of aircraft structural failures

The list of aircraft accidents and incidents caused by structural failures summarizes notable accidents and incidents such as the 1933 United Airlines Chesterton Crash due to a bombing and a 1964 B-52 test that landed after the vertical stabilizer broke off. Loss of structural integrity during flight can be caused by:

  • faulty design
  • faulty maintenance
  • manufacturing flaws
  • pilot error
  • weather conditions
  • sabotage (e.g., an airliner bombing by a skyjacker).
This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
List of aircraft accidents and incidents caused by structural failure
Date Accident/incident Location Aircraft Cause Fatalities Notes
1913-8-7 Death of S F Cody UK Cody Floatplane "inherent structural weakness" 2 Broke up
1919-8-2 Airliner crash at Verona Italy Caproni Ca.48 Wing flutter followed by wing collapse 14, 15, or 17 (sources vary) The crash killed all aboard
1921-8-23 1921 Humber crash UK: Hull R38 (ZR-2) Weather combined with weakened hull 44 Deformation followed by fire & explosion
1925-9-3 Crash of the USS Shenandoah Caldwell, Ohio, USA USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) Severe weather 14 Torn apart by turbulence
1930-7-23 Meopham air disaster Meopham, Kent Junkers F.13 Overload/metal fatigue 6 Tailplane weakened by turbulence and flutter
1933-10-10 United Airlines Chesterton Crash USA: Indiana Boeing 247 Sabotage 7 Explosion severed tail section
1935-2-12 Loss of USS Macon (ZRS-5) off California Akron class airship Weather combined with unrepaired damage 2 Wind shear caused structural failure of the tail which damaged gas cells
1943-08-01 1943 Lambert Field CG-4A crash USA: St. Louis Waco CG-4[N 1] Manufacturing flaw 10 Loss of right-hand wing due to failure of defective wing strut fitting[1]
1947-10-24 United Airlines Flight 608 USA: about 1.5 Miles southeast of Bryce Canyon Airport Douglas DC-6 Pilot error and design flaw 52 Fire caused by failure of pilots to stop fuel transfer and design flaw. Fire eventually lead to an in-flight breakup.
1952-08-30 1952 F-89 airshow crash USA: Detroit F-89 Scorpion Design flaw 2 Wing broke off during flypast[2]
1952-09-06 1952 Farnborough Airshow DH.110 crash UK: Farnborough, Hampshire de Havilland DH.110 Design flaw 31 Leading edge aeroelastic flutter caused the aircraft to breakup and crash into the crowd
1953-02-06 National Airlines Flight 470 Gulf of Mexico Douglas DC-6 Severe weather 46 Loss of control and structural failure in severe turbulence
1954-01-10 BOAC Flight 781 Mediterranean Sea de Havilland Comet Design flaw 35 Near Elba: roof fatigue fracture lead to decompression
1954-04-08 South African Airways Flight 201 Mediterranean Sea de Havilland Comet Design flaw 21 Near Naples: decompression due to fatigue
1957-04-17 1957 Aqaba Valetta accident Jordan: near Aqaba Vickers Valetta Severe weather 27 Design strength of left-hand wing exceeded during probable loss of control in severe clear-air turbulence[3]
1957-05-31 1957 McNabs Island RCN Banshee crash Canada: near Halifax, Nova Scotia F2H-3 Banshee Manufacturing flaw 1 Loss of outer starboard wing due to improperly manufactured fittings in folding wing mechanism[4]
1958-09-20 1958 Vulcan crash at RAF Syerston UK: RAF Syerston Avro Vulcan prototype Pilot error 7 Overspeed during low pass exceeded g-limit of leading edge structure, aircraft disintegrated[5]
1959-10-01 1959 Lightning crash UK: Irish Sea Lightning T.4 (first aircraft) Fin collapse due to inertia coupling during high speed tests 0 first supersonic ejection by a UK pilot (M 1.7)[6] Fin enlarged
1963-01-24 1963 Elephant Mountain B-52 crash USA: Maine B-52 Stratofortress Military command exceeded design envelope 7 Loss of vertical stabilizer
1963-01-30 1963 B-52 crash in New Mexico USA: New Mexico B-52 Stratofortress Military command exceeded design envelope 2 Near Mora:[7] loss of vertical stabilizer[8]
1964-01-04 1964 B-57 crash USA: Dayton NRB-57 Canberra Mis-manipulation of fuel system, causing CofG to be beyond its safe rearward limit 2 Both wings failed
1964-01-10 B-52 flight test of vertical stabilizer USA: New Mexico B-52 Stratofortress Military command exceeded design envelope 0 Loss of vertical stabilizer, landed safely
1964-01-13 1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crash USA: Maryland B-52 Stratofortress Military command exceeded design envelope 3 Loss of vertical stabilizer
1964-01-04 1964 USAF Thunderbird crash USA: California F-105 Thunderchief Design flaw 1 Spine failure during 6G tactical pitch up for air show
1965-07-06 1965 Little Baldon Hastings accident England: near RAF Abingdon, Oxfordshire Handley Page Hastings Design flaw 41 Right-hand elevator became uncontrollable due to metal fatigue-related failure of two bolts in elevator system[9]
1966-03-05 BOAC Flight 911 Japan: Mount Fuji Boeing 707-436 Severe weather 124 Severe clear-air turbulence, gust load over design limit lead to in-flight breakup
1966-08-06 Braniff Airways Flight 250 USA: Nebraska BAC One-Eleven 203AE Severe weather 42 Horizontal and vertical stabilizers detached in severe turbulence
1967-03-05 Lake Central Flight 527 USA: Ohio Convair CV-580 Propeller manufacturing defect 38 Propeller broke apart; one of the blades punctured the fuselage, causing the forward section to break away
1967-06-23 Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 USA: Pennsylvania BAC One-Eleven 204AF Mechanical failure 34 Valve in the auxiliary power unit suffered a complete failure, spreading fire to the tailplane and causing a loss of pitch control
1967-11-15 X-15 Flight 3-65-97 USA: Edwards AFB North American X-15 Pilot error 1 Loss of control followed by airframe failure
1970-07-05 Air Canada Flight 621 Brampton, Ontario McDonnell Douglas DC-8 Pilot error 109 Hard landing caused by crew error, causing engine No.4 and pylon to separate; further damage to the right wing caused leaking fuel to ignite and explode, causing the wing to break up and lead to the crash
1971-03-05 BEA Flight 706 Belgium Vickers Vanguard Inadequate maintenance: undetected corrosion 63 Near Aarsele: rear pressure bulkhead failure caused loss of tailplane
1972-06-12 American Airlines Flight 96 USA: Detroit MD DC-10 Design flaw 0 Cargo door mechanism allowed it to burst open; landed safely
1973-05-18 Aeroflot Flight 109 Soviet Union: Chita Tupolev Tu-104 Terrorist bombing 81 Bomb put on board by hijacker
1974-03-03 Turkish Airlines Flight 981 France: Picardy MD DC-10 Design flaw 346 Cargo door mechanism allowed it to burst open; cabin floor collapsed, cables severed, crashed into a forest
1976-04-14 Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Argentina: near Cutral-Co Hawker Siddeley 748 Improper maintenance: undetected metal fatigue 34 Starboard wing failed outboard of engine
1977-05-14 1977 Dan-Air Boeing 707 crash Near Lusaka Airport, Lusaka, Zambia Boeing 707 Metal fatigue and aircraft design flaw 6 Structural failure of the right horizontal stabiliser due to metal fatigue and aircraft design flaw
1978-06-26 Helikopter Service Flight 165 Norway: North Sea Sikorsky S-61 Fatigue 18 Rotor blade loosened after fatigue to the knuckle joint: crashed into the sea[10]
1979-05-25 American Airlines Flight 191 USA: Chicago MD DC-10 Improper maintenance 271 + 2 on ground No.1 engine broke off due to faulty maintenance procedure; slats retracted, leading the plane to stall and crash
1981-06-02 NLM CityHopper Flight 431 Netherlands: Moerdijk Fokker F28 Fellowship Severe weather 17 Starboard wing detached from airframe due to loads exceeding design limits after the aircraft entered a tornado.
1982-03-11 Widerøe Flight 933 Norway: Gamvik de Havilland Canada Twin Otter Severe weather 15 Vertical stabilizer and rudder failed during clear-air turbulence[11]
1985-06-23 Air India Flight 182 Atlantic Ocean off County Cork Boeing 747 Terrorist bombing 329 Terrorist bomb placed in cargo hold
1985-08-12 Japan Airlines Flight 123 Japan: Mount Osutaka Boeing 747SR Improper maintenance 520 Faulty repair after same plane suffered a tailstrike: the rear bulkhead blew out, blowing off the tail fin and rupturing all four hydraulic systems. The crash remains the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history.
1987-11-28 South African Airways Flight 295 Indian Ocean, 134 nautical miles (248 km) north-east of Mauritius, 19°10′30″S 59°38′0″E Boeing 747 Fire 159 Catastrophic and contained cargo fire in rear cargo deck lead to the separation of tail section, an in-flight break up and a high-speed dive into ocean
1988-04-28 Aloha Airlines Flight 243 USA: Hawaii Boeing 737 Improper adhesive bonding of fuselage lap joints 1 Corrosion and fatigue: 18 ft of roof blew off
1988-03-07 Iran Air Flight 655 Strait of Hormuz Airbus A300 Mistakenly shot down over the Persian Gulf by the USS Vincennes who mistook it as an enemy F-14 Tomcat 290 Airliner shot down
1988-12-21 Pan Am Flight 103 UK: Lockerbie Boeing 747 Terrorist bombing 259 + 11 on ground Terrorist bomb in the forward luggage hold
1989-02-24 United Airlines Flight 811 USA: Hawaii Boeing 747 Dirt on microswitch/short circuit 9 Cargo door burst open (electrical fault), ripping large hole; landed safely
1989-09-08 Partnair Flight 394 Denmark: 18 km north of Hirtshals Convair 580 Improper maintenance: use of counterfeit aircraft parts 55 Highest death toll involving a Convair 580; loosening of vertical stabilizer due to excessive wear on mounting bolts
1989-09-19 UTA Flight 772 Ténéré, Niger 16.86493°N 11.953712°E,

Sahara Desert

McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Terrorist bombing 170 Bomb hidden in forward cargo hold detonated at 35,000 feet leading to in-flight break up scattering debris over a wide area across the Sahara
1990-04-12 Widerøe Flight 839 Norway: Værøy de Havilland Canada Twin Otter Severe weather 5 Rudder and tailplane cracked during extreme winds[12]
1990-06-10 British Airways Flight 5390 Great Britain: Didcot BAC One-Eleven Faulty maintenance None Window separated from plane causing an explosive decompression and the pilot being sucked out. First Officer successfully landed the plane in Southampton
1991-26-05 Lauda Air Flight 004 Phu Toei National Park, Amphoe Dan Chang, Suphanburi Province, Thailand Boeing 767-300ER Manufacturing error: faulty thrust reverser 223 Thrust reverser in No.1 engine unexpectedly deployed mid flight while cruising at 35,000 ft causing it to bank sharply to the left and enter a high-speed dive and breaking up on the way down at roughly 4000 ft scattering wreckage over a wide area
1991-09-11 Continental Express Flight 2574 Texas Embraer 120 Brasilia Improper maintenance 14 Failure of the horizontal stabilizer during flight due to misunderstanding during maintenance
1992-10-04 El Al Flight 1862 Bijlmermeer Boeing 747 Corrosion in pylon fuse pin leading to metal fatigue 4 on board, 39 on ground Engine No.3 broke off, knocked off adjacent engine No.4, ripped of slats; stall and crash on attempted landing
1996-17-07 TWA Flight 800 Moriches Inlet, near East Moriches, New York Boeing 747 Fuel tank explosion 230 Exploded, broke up, and crashed off the coast of Long Island 30 minutes after taking off from New York bound for Paris due to a catastrophic central fuel tank explosion resulting with the forward fuselage section, which included the main flight deck first class and a portion of business class separating, causing the remaining section to climb, abruptly stall, and enter a high speed dive, causing the left wing to also separate and plunge into the Atlantic Ocean in flames
1997-06-26 Helikopter Service Flight 451 Norway: Norwegian Sea Eurocopter AS 332L1 Super Puma Fatigue 12 The accident was caused by a fatigue crack in the spline, which ultimately caused the power transmission shaft to fail. The helicopter crashed into the sea.[13]
1997-12-19 SilkAir Flight 185 Musi River, Palembang, Indonesia Boeing 737-300 Pilot suicide (disputed by NTSC) 104 Entered a high-speed vertical dive and broke up on its way down into the Musi River
1999-31-01 EgyptAir Flight 990 Atlantic Ocean, 100 km (62 mi) S of Nantucket Boeing 767-300ER Pilot suicide (disputed) 217 Abruptly descended rapidly before rapidly climbing before finally entering a high-speed dive, causing the No.1 engine and portions of the wings to break off on its way down towards the ocean
2000-31-01 Alaska Airlines Flight 261 Pacific Ocean near Anacapa Island McDonnell Douglas MD-83 Maintenance intervals extended beyond safe limit 88 Lack of lubrication causing structural failure of the jackscrew on the horizontal stabiliser resulting in aircraft descending inverted into sea
2001-11-12 American Airlines Flight 587 Queens, New York City Airbus A300 Pilot error 265 Overuse of rudder leading to loss of vertical stabilizer
2002-04-30 2002 Eglin Air Force Base F-15 crash USA: Gulf of Mexico F-15 Eagle Undetected corrosion 1 Near Eglin AFB: port fin leading edge failed during test dive
2002-05-25 China Airlines Flight 611 Taiwan: Taiwan Strait near Penghu Islands Boeing 747 Faulty maintenance, metal fatigue 225 Tailstrike leading to faulty repair: tail section broke off, causing aircraft to disintegrate
2003-02-01 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster USA: Texas Space Shuttle Design flaw 7 Damaged TPS during launch, breakup during reentry
2005-12-19 Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 USA: Miami Beach, Florida Grumman Turbo-Mallard Improper maintenance 20 In-flight wing failure due to metal fatigue
2007-01-01 Adam Air Flight 574 Makassar Strait off Majene, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Black boxes at 03°41′02″S 118°08′53″E and 03°40′22″S 118°09′16″E Boeing 737-400 Pilot error 102 Spatial disorientation, inertial reference system (IRS) malfunction gradually banked to the left and entered a high-speed dive and broke up on its way down
2008-05-30 Pilatus EC-JXH crash Spain Pilatus PC-6 [14] 2 Wing failure
2014-10-31 VSS Enterprise crash USA: Near the Mojave Desert, California Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo Pilot error and design flaw 1 Premature activation of the air brake device used for atmospheric re-entry lead to an in-flight breakup
2015-10-31 Metrojet Flight 9268 Egypt: North Sinai Governorate Airbus A321-200 Terrorist bombing 224 Bomb that was smuggled into rear cargo hold disguised as a soft drink can contained four packs of dynamite, causing the tail section to separate and lead to an in-flight break up, scattering the wreckage in the Sinai Desert
2016-19-05 EgyptAir Flight 804 Mediterranean Sea, 33.6757°N 28.7924°E Airbus A320-200 Under investigation 66 Possible fire in the cockpit
See also: List of airliner shootdown incidents
1952 International Aviation Exposition:
Northrop F-89 Scorpion wing failure during flypast.
Main article: List of structural failures and collapses

References
Notes
  1. Accident aircraft 42-78839 had been built under license by contractor Robertson Aircraft Corporation.
Citations
  1. Gero 2010, pp. 24–25.
  2. "WORK IN PROGRESS – More to add". Ejection-history.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  3. Gero 2010, p. 75.
  4. Mills, Carl. Banshees of the Royal Canadian Navy. Willowdale, Ontario, Canada: Banshee Publication, 1991, ISBN 978-0-9695200-0-9, pages 280–281.
  5. "Anniversary of Vulcan crash." BBC News, 19 September 2008.
  6. "2005". Ejection-history.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  7. "B-52_Stratofortress". Ejection-history.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-02-14. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  8. "Look mom, I lost my tail! We gotta bring this Buff in anyway". TalkingProud.us. Archived from the original on June 4, 2007. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
  9. Gero 2010, p. 95.
  10. "Rapport om luftfartsulykke i Nordsjøen den 26. juni 1978 ca. kl. 1115 med helikopter S-61 LN-OQS, tilhørende K/S Helikopter Service A/S" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Accident Investigation Board Norway. 17 January 1980. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  11. Parliament of Norway (20 September 2005). "Rapport til Stortingets presidentskap fra Stortingets granskningskommisjon for Mehamn-ulykken" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  12. Accident Investigation Board Norway (1991). "Rapport of luftfartsulykke ved Værøy lufthavn den 12. april 1990 med Twin Otter LN-BNS" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original (pdf) on 2012-07-17.
  13. "Report on the air accident 8 September 1997 in the Norwegian sea approx. 100 NM west north west of Brønnøysund, involving Eurocopter AS 332L1 Super Puma, LN-OPG, operated by Helikopter Service AS" (PDF). Accident Investigation Board Norway. November 2001. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  14. Ranter, Harro. "Accident Pilatus PC-6/B2-H4 Turbo Porter EC-JXH, 30 May 2008". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
Bibliography
  • Gero, David B. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. Sparkford, Yoevil, Somerset, UK: Haynes Publishing, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84425-645-7


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