Most crashes happen because of human negligence. When we board a plane, we put the safety of our lives in the hands of the pilot and hope they would do their job just perfectly.
The truth is that over the years the world witnessed horrific plane crashes that could be easily avoided had it not been for the mistakes made by the pilots.
Aeroflot Flight 593, 1994
The tragic crash of this plane happened on March 23, 1994, during an Aeroflot flight travelling from Moscow to Kong Kong. The number of people killed was 75, every person on board, when the plane crashed down in Siberia.
It was later determined that the cause of the crash was the decision made by the relief pilot, second in command to the co-pilot, Yaroslav Kudrinsky, to invite his children to play with the plane’s controls.
Yana, 12, and Eldar, 15, were at the cockpit and allowed to sit in the captain’s chair. They played with the controls while they were disabled since the plane was in autopilot mode. But when Eldar held the control column down for a full 30 seconds, it forced the system back into manual.
When the pilot and the co-pilot realized what happened and tried to take over the control, it was already too late. The plane crashed into the mountain.
TransAsia Airways Flight 235, 2015
It was in February 2015 when TransAsia Airways Flight 235 tragically collided with a highway bridge in Taiwan before plunging into the Keelung River.
The accident happened shortly after the plane took off from Taipei’s Songshan Airport.
The cause of the tragic accident that claimed the lives of 48 people was that one of the engines lost power and the pilot accidentally switched off the only other working engine by pulling the wrong shuttle. Fifteen of the passengers on board survived.
“Wow, pulled back the wrong side throttle,” were the pilot’s final words.
Tuninter Flight 1153, 2009
After the plane flying for Bari, Italy, from Djerba, Tunisia ran out of fuel because of a mechanical error, the pilot and the co-pilot prayed instead of putting emergency procedures into place. As a result, the plane crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.
A couple of years later, the pilot and the co-pilot were found guilty over the death of sixteen passengers on their flight and were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
As per the Guardian, the pilot, Captain Shafik Al Gharbi, was heard calling for the help of “Allah and Muhammad his prophet.”
Evidence showed that the crew did try to regain control over the plane, but they ultimately panicked and let the crash to take place. 23 of the passengers survived after being pulled out of the water.
KLM and Pan Am collision
What is known one of the deadliest accidents in the history of aviation happened in March 1977, when the two Boeing 747s – KLM Flight 1736 and Pan Am Flight 1736 – smashed into one another at Tenerife Airport.
This horrific accident resulted in the deaths of 583 people.
The reason that led to this tragedy was miscommunication between the KLM flight crew and Air Traffic Control.
While the Pan Am plane still being on the runway, the KLM plane attempted takeoff. Dense fog obscured visibility, preventing both aircraft from seeing each other.
Airblue Flight 202, Islamabad
On July 28, 2010, this domestic passenger flight crashed near Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad resulting in the deaths of all 146 passengers and six crew members.
It is believed that this tragedy could have been avoided had the co-pilot questioned the pilot’s repeated errors.
As per the Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority, the co-pilot had endured humiliation from his superior throughout the flight, leading to a loss of self-esteem.
The captain’s behavior towards the co-pilot was described as harsh and snobbish. He even disregarded the weather warnings from Air Traffic Control. Unfortunately, the co-pilot failed to challenge the captain as the situation unfolded. Struggling against severe monsoon weather, the captain succumbed to panic, ultimately losing control of the aircraft, with the co-pilot failing to intervene, resulting in the plane crashing into the Margalla Hills.
Air Florida Flight 90, 1982
The many errors, including the one of failing to switch on the de-icing system, led the Air Florida Flight 90, from Washington DC to Florida’s Fort Lauderdale, end with a crash into the Potomac River, killing 74 people.
Taking off in a snowstorm, the crew initially attempted to address ice buildup by employing a misguided technique of using reverse thrust, rather than returning to the gate for proper de-icing procedures. Further, they failed to abort the takeoff despite detecting a power issue.
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, 1972
It was four days after Christmas in 1972 when an Eastern Airlines Tristar jet crashed into the Florida Everglades because the pilot and co-pilot were distracted by a burnt-out bulb towards the end of the flight new New York’s JFK to Miami. While they were busy investigating the broken landing gear indicator light, someone accidentally bumped a lever which deactivated the plane’s autopilot mode.
By the time they realized they were losing altitude, it was already too late for anything to be done.
In the tragic crash, 101 people, including the captain, lost their lives. The number of survivors was 75.
The fact that these tragedies could be avoided saddens us even more.
