Aviation Accidents

• Causes of Plane Crashes

• The FAA and NTSB

• Personal Injury Claims for Aviation Accidents

• Liability

• Damages and Getting Help

Air France Flight 447

Air France Flight 447 was a commercial flight scheduled to carry 216 passengers and 12 crew members from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France.  The aircraft, Air France Airbus A330-200, took off at 22:03 UTC on May 31, 2009.  The crew on board Flight 447 made their last contact to Brazilian air traffic controllers as the aircraft approached a transition from Brazilian radar surveillance, over the Atlantic Ocean, to Sengalese-controlled airspace, off the coast of West Africa, at 01:33 UTC.

At approximately 02:13 UTC, Air France Flight 447 sent automatic radio messages for a duration of four minutes, which indicated that the aircraft was experiencing problems.  Flight 447's failure to make contact on either continent instigated a search and rescue operation.  The details of what has become of the travelers and crew members on board Air France Flight 447 remains unclear, for the bodies of numerous passengers remain missing.  The cause of the crash has yet to be determined.

Sudan Airways Flight 109

Sudan Airways Flight 109 was a scheduled flight from Amman, Jordan, to Khartoum International Airport, Sudan, by way of Damascus, Syria. June 10, 2008 it crashed on landing in Khartoum.The Airbus A310 broke apart and subsequently caught fire. It is believe that 30 people were killed as a result of the fire.

TACA Airlines Flight 390

TACA Flight 390 was a scheduled flight on May 30, 2008 by TACA Airlines from Los Angeles, California, United States to Miami, Florida, United States, with intermediate stops at San Salvador, El Salvador and Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula in Honduras. In this hull loss accident, the Airbus A-320-233 overran the runway after landing at Tegucigalpa's Toncontín International Airport and rolled out into a street, crashing into an embankment and smashing several cars in the process.The passengers consisted of 60 Hondurans, 17 Costa Ricans, 9 Argentinians, 8 Guatemalans, 7 Americans, 5 Nicaraguans, 3 Salvadorans, 3 Mexicans, 2 Brazilians, 2 Canadians, 2 Colombians, 2 Spaniards, 1 Georgian, 1 German, 1 Italian, and 1 Uruguayan.Five people have been confirmed as dead as a result of the accident, including Captain D'Antonio.  There were two fatalities on the ground, one a taxi driver, in one of three vehicles crushed on the street by the aircraft.

Southern Sudan Air

Southern Sudan Air Connections The Beech 1900, rented from the charter company Southern Sudan Air Connection, departed Wau, Sudan, on a flight to Juba, Sudan, via Rumbek. The airplane was carrying 18 passengers, including key members of the southern Sudanese government, and 2 crewmembers. The plane crashed near Rumbek (the provincial capital of Lakes State, north of Juba) killing all onboard.

Kenya Airways Flight 507

Kenya Airways Flight 507 was a Boeing 737 flight of Kenya Airways flying from Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon, to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, which crashed on May 5, 2007. The flight originated from Port Bouet Airport in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, but made a stop in Douala to pick up more passengers.  The plane broke up into small pieces and came to rest mostly submerged in a forested swamp, 5.42 km to the south (176°) of the end of the Douala International Airport's runway 12. All people on board were killed.

Garuda Indonesia Flight 200

Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 was the scheduled domestic passenger flight of a Boeing 737-497 operated by Garuda Indonesia between Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The aircraft crashed and burst into flames while landing at Adisucipto International Airport on March 7, 2007. As a result of this crash, 21 passengers and 1 crew member were killed.

Adam Air Flight 574

Adam Air Flight 574 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Adam Air between the Indonesian cities of Surabaya and Manado which disappeared near Polewali in Sulawesi on January 1, 2007. The plane, a Boeing 737-4Q8, was ultimately determined to have crashed into the ocean, from which some smaller pieces of wreckage have been recovered.  85 adults, 7 children, 4 infants, and six crew on board.  All 102 people on board were killed. 

Gulf Air A320

On Aug. 23, 2000, a Gulf Air A320 operating the Cairo-Bahrain route as Flight 072 plunged into the sea about 2 naut. mi. northeast of Bahrain International Airport, killing all 143 passengers and crewmembers ( AW&ST Sept. 11, 2000, p. 57; Sept. 4, 2000, p. 77). The crash occurred at 7:30 p.m. local time, about 1 hr. after sunset.  All people on board were killed.