What plane crash or crashes do you think are the scariest?

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rosehymnofthemissing@reddit

I'd say all of them, but some are scarier than others. For me, in no particular order:

1989 runway crash landing of United Airlines Flight 232

2000 ocean crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261

2002 mid-air collision of BAL Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 and DHL International Aviation ME Flight 611

1977 Tenerife runway collision of KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736

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torsten_dev@reddit

United Airlines Flight 93.

Or that one attempted fedex hijacking.

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redmambo_no6@reddit

IMO what sets Flight 93 apart is that on some level the passengers knew what was going to happen either way. They just chose to go out on their own terms rather than let the hijackers do it for them.

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torsten_dev@reddit

Don't know the full story but wrangling for control of a plane after hearing about the towers must have been horrible.

Fighting to minimize deaths on the ground is always so tragic.

I have some vague recollection of a captain asking atc for a depopulated area. Not to land but to CFIT into.

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It was horrible but the actions taken by the passengers was nothing short of amazing. Their assault on the cockpit began around 9:58 and the plane impacted the ground at 10:03, five full minutes. During that time Jarrah rolled the plane from left to right and pitched it up and down to throw the passengers off balance. Somehow, amidst being tossed around the plane, objects flying and plates and glass smashing, the passengers still managed to (likely) kill the hijackers guarding the cockpit and use the food cart to bash the cockpit door open. Jarrah then put the plane in a vertical dive, but they still kept fighting their way in and may have breached the cockpit door moments before impact. It was a battle to the very end. The movie United 93 shows all of this in terrifying detail, and it's really well-done.

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Alive_Strawberry_861@reddit

KAL flight 801

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whysoserious6801@reddit

All of them.

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Beahner@reddit

A lot of good ones here.

For me it’s fire. Fire in air would be the most horrifying, but this one always got me because they were on the ground but just never got people put.

Saudia Flight 163. Shudder.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudia_Flight_163

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mpathg00@reddit (OP)

Oh yeah, it's soooo sad that the flight crew didn't let anyone escape

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Swotboy2000@reddit

Hardly. The pressurisation system failed to disengage so those that hadn’t died from smoke inhalation couldn’t physically open the doors.

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copingcabana@reddit

The UPS fire aboard a flight from lithium batteries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6

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grain_farmer@reddit

Yeah, this is what came to my mind. Pilot unconscious and the first officer confused as to why as soon as autopilot was disabled the plane started flying towards the ground with the yoke doing nothing

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El_Duderino91@reddit

Yukla 27 comes to mind for me. Former AWACS crew member, and the idea that in a perfectly good airframe, following best practices, some asshole geese can just ruin a good day.

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quieter_guy@reddit

The one where the plane crashes.

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PunkAssBitch2000@reddit

Malaysia Airlines MH370. Someone was in control of that plane and planned it and intentionally killed themselves and everyone on board.

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PunkAssBitch2000@reddit

Oh also Aeroflot Flight 593.

I’m more scared of human error/ neglect (not necessarily pilot error) than mechanical issue because like… if there’s a severe incident-causing mechanical issue mid-flight what am I gonna do about it?? Either the pilots handle it or they don’t. 🤷🏻

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PunkAssBitch2000@reddit

And also, any accident where a plane crashes into houses while people are sleeping. That’s terrifying.

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really_random_user@reddit

There's a high chance that the cabin got depressurized and nobody knew what happened, they just passed out

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Misha_ZA@reddit

Nigeria Airways Flight 2120, the airplane melted in mid-air.

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PunkAssBitch2000@reddit

The plane did WHAT

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sands7877@reddit

Worst one for me is American 191.

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really_random_user@reddit

I think there was an onboard screen camera system so the passengers saw where the plane was headed :(

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PunkAssBitch2000@reddit

That was the Chicago OHare one, right? If so, you are correct.

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Pilot_Yak3@reddit

The runaway Piper J5 that hit a scissor lift at my home airfield. Pilot did not have anyone on the brakes/throttle when he went to hand-prop it. Plane almost chopped him up, knocked him over (separated shoulder, iirc), then went flying across the grass ramp to collide with the piece of machinery. Scariest stuff I’ve ever witnessed. Same pilot just wrecked his 3rd aircraft, last week. Nice person, but doesn’t listen to instructors and it has shown.

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AdComfortable624@reddit

Any crash sparked by manufacturer oversight. In a way every crash has a lesson to be learned but when the cause of the crash is a lack of care, theres not much anyone can do.

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ItsYungCheezy@reddit

Probably that PSA BAE-146 where the guy hijacked it and dove it into the ground

Maybe also that Helios air flight where the oxygen ran out,

Idk I feel like every plane crash is pretty scary especially if you pretty much know you’re gonna die

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really_random_user@reddit

Helios was probably somewhat gentle oxygen masks is scary but normally not life threatening, unlike an onboard fire

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jetBlast350@reddit

All of them.

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really_random_user@reddit

Some were definitely worse than others

Any involving a fire onboard is worse than being blissfully unaware Hypoxia is probably the gentlest way to go

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mbatt2@reddit

The Air France to Brazil one was the worst if you listen to the transcript.

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really_random_user@reddit

Weren't most people unaware of what was happening

The egyptair inflight fire or the pilot suicide one was probably worse

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kmmontandon@reddit

That one over Nepal that someone live-streamed from inside the plane.

Either that or that Air Alaska flight that crashed due to a failed jackscrew.

In both cases, people had way too long to know they were dead.

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CattleDogCurmudgeon@reddit

Nah, at least for me, the Nepal one isn't so bad because you don't know it's happening.

I feel like it'd be a TWA 800 or USMC KC-135 crash where you break up mid-air and you can see the ocean/ground coming at you.

In fact, I feel like in any case, you'd want to be the pilot as you have things to try to save the aircraft. As pax, you're just along for the ride.

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really_random_user@reddit

Idk, midair breakup usually involves enough gforces to knock you unconscious (along with hypoxia)

The recent pia crash involved hitting the ground, and then seeing the plane lose power and hit buildings Along with a scarily steep descent

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acm2033@reddit

Japan 123. 30 minutes from losing the tail to crashing into the mountains.

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Go_Jot@reddit

This^

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CmanderShep117@reddit

It's definitely the Air Alaska one for me

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StuckinSuFu@reddit

The B52 Crash is more 'famous' but I remember as a young kid on base when the KC-135 crashed at Fairchild. I was 7\~ so obviously not the best memory but I do remember being told that basically my dad was dead because I knew he was working in the tower and the first rumors to spread where that the tower had been hit.

Turns out he was obviously safe and unharmed but we were eating tomato soup at the day care when the announcements first came in and to this day, I still hate the stuff.

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PourLarryaCrown@reddit

That Yeti ATR in Nepal went from flying along normally to stalling and rolling into the ground in less than five seconds. The people on that plane barely knew what hit them. Your point stands re: AS261; those people went through hell flying around for almost half an hour praying for the best and dreading the worst.

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Johnny-Cash-Facts@reddit

Worst part about the B-52 flight is that it wasn’t an air show. It was a fini-flight. The guy was known to be a bold and brazen pilot, so the only crew that would go with him were some very senior individuals. There is a flight deck recording of the copilot saying “you’ve killed us.” His family had to watch the plane pancake and burn.

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Jambi1913@reddit

When I first saw the footage of the B-52 and I didn’t know the story or the outcome I was immediately cringing and looking away because it was so obvious what was going to happen as soon as he went into that insane bank so close to the ground. He was going to stall and crash it, no question. Absolutely heart breaking for the families of the innocent men that pilot killed through his reckless actions. That footage just made me so angry that someone could be so stupid and be in command of such a plane. And then to learn that he had a reputation for this reckless behaviour and belittling the concerns of his subordinates? Disgusting he was allowed to stay in command. Imagine if he’d taken a whole lot of people on the ground with them too? Senseless.

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the1stAviator@reddit

When you think you are going to die

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circlethenexus@reddit

JAL flight 123, I think in 1984 that killed Kyu Sakamoto. I can’t remember if it was the vertical stabilizer or the elevator that detached in flight. The pilot was able to keep the airplane airborne for over 30 minutes knowing there was no way to get it on the ground safely.

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ebneter@reddit

Aft bulkhead blew out due to a bad repair patch from a tail strike, and blew the vertical stabilizer completely off. Incredible that they kept it airborne for so long, and that anyone survived.

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WinFar4030@reddit

They are all bad, but I would have hated to be on the Concorde A4590. With that thing on fire, knowing it is not a low speed performance airframe. I'd just know that it was going to explode or slam into the ground without hope

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Golden-Phrasant@reddit

Any one that I would be in.

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Go_Jot@reddit

UPS flight 6. link

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Insaneclown271@reddit

As a pilot, Swiss air 111 scares the shit out of me.

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acm2033@reddit

Yep, that crew could have been perfect (they nearly were) and it still would have ended the same way. We like to think we have control over the situation. This crash belied that.

At least a lot of good came after that. Better installation of entertainment systems. Better fire proofing. Better, faster checklist procedures for crews in similar conditions.

Still, it's terrifying to think that, despite the training, the practice, we may not be able to fix what's broken on the plane.

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Insaneclown271@reddit

Actually if the captain had prioritised landing over fuel jettison they could have survived. Lessons in task management and prioritising were learned from that accident.

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SaintBernard33@reddit

UPS flight 6 is the only crash that details haunts me to this day

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Funkytadualexhaust@reddit

Like a snuff film... They might have overdone it a bit with the burning people alive cgi.

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gonijc2001@reddit

Air France 447. Must have felt terrifying to basically free fall for 3 minutes, knowing that you were about to die

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SeaRun1497@reddit

UPS 6 - cargo fire, although no passengers, the FO was the last one to try to save the plane.

Others like AL EL 1862, Air France 4590 Concorde crash..

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CotswoldP@reddit

I think my worst possible would be when something happened that meant we would definitely have some kind of emergency landing, but it was still several hours away. Such as a faulty fuel gauge meaning you're definitely not going to make it back to land, but you still have 5 hours to worry about it. Or a main wheel drops off on takeoff but you're well overweight so need to burn down to min fuel.

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heoeoeinzb78@reddit

The cargo 747 in Afghanistan

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pimento_mo@reddit

Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 in which the pilots' unprofessional behavior and disregard for training and procedures caused the crash. Perfectly good airplane incorrectly flown and killed the pilots, fortunately the only occupants.

a fuller explanation.

In short, had the pilots climbed the airplane correctly, and had they not flown to FL410 at all (for which there was no reason, other than to try it) none of what followed would have happened.

A totally avoidable accident.

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