Date/Time | Name / Group | Age | Notability | Accident Location | Aircraft | Details | Notes |
Oct 5, 1930 02:09 |
Lord Thompson |
55 | British air minister | Beauvais, France | Airship R-101 G-FAAW |
The airship crashed into a hill after losing altitude in a rainstorm. Overweight and underpowered. Forty-eight out of 56 aboard killed. | |
Mar 31, 1931 10:45 |
Knute Rockne |
43 | Notre Dame football coach | Bazaar, Kansas | Trans Cont. & Western Airways
Flight 599 Fokker F-10A Tri-motor NC999E |
One of the plane's wings separated in flight after penetrating a rainstorm and the aircraft crashed into a wheat field. A structural design flaw caused wing-aileron flutter which led to the wing separation. All 8 aboard killed. | PHOTO |
May 14, 1931 | Denys Finch Hatton |
43 | English professional hunter.Hatton was the character played by Robert Redford in the movie Out of Africa. | Voi, Kenya | de Havilland Gypsy Moth | Lifted off the ground, stalled and crashed. | |
Sep 5, 1932 | Al Wilson | 36 | American actor, producer, stunt pilot | Cleveland, Ohio | Curtiss Model D replica | Collision with autogyro at the Cleveland Air Races. | |
Apr 4, 1933 00:30 |
Rear Admiral William Moffet |
64 | Naval aviator | Off Barnegat, New Jersey | Goodyear-Zeppelin U.S.S. Akron (airship) | Killed when the airship USS Akron crashed into the Atlantic after penetrating a thunderstorm. | PHOTO |
Jul 17, 1933 00:36 |
Steponas Darius Stasys Girėnas |
37 39 |
Lithuanian- American aviators | Kuhdamm, Germany | Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker NR688E |
Difficult weather conditions and engine defects caused the plane to crash while on a record setting flight. | |
June 24, 1934 | Jimmie Wedell |
34 | American airplane designer and speed racer | Patterson, Louisiana | de Havilland Gypsy Moth NC924M |
Wedell was at the controls of the plane. The crash was most likely due to structural failure. | |
May 6, 1935 | Bronson M. Cutting |
46 | New Mexico Senator | Macon, Missouri | Transcontinental and Western Air DC-2-112 NC13785 |
Crashed while attempting to make an emergency landing after running out of fuel. Four of 10 aboard killed. | PHOTO |
Jun 24, 1935 14:36 |
Carlos Gardel |
44 | French Argentine actor, singer | Medellin, Colombia | Servicio Aero Colombiano Ford Tri-motor C-1 |
Collision with another Tri-motor as it was taking off. Alfredo Le Pera, his lyricist, also killed. Seventeen of 20 aboard killed. | PHOTO |
Aug 15, 1935 | Will Penn Adair Rogers Wiley Post |
56 37 |
American humorist Adventurer |
Walakpi, near Point Barrow Alaska | Lockheed Orion Explorer NR12283 |
After making a forced landing in fog, the plane took off, rose about 50 feet and crashed into shallow water. 2 killed. | PHOTO |
Sep 17, 1935 | Len Koenecke |
31 | Baseball player Dodgers, Giants |
Over Canada airspace | Charter plane | After being thrown off an American Airlines flight for being drunk, Koenecke boarded a charter flight. A fight broke out between the pilot, Koenecke and another passenger. After Koenecke grabbed for the controls, the pilot hit him over the head with a fire extinguisher killing him. | PHOTO |
Nov 8, 1935 02:50 |
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith |
38 | Australian aviator. WW I ace. First to cross the Pacific from the US to Australia | Off the southern coast of Burma near Aye Island | Lockheed Altair VH-USB |
Disappeared off the coast of Burma while attempting an England to Australia speed record. Both Smith and his mechanic were killed. | |
Mar 6, 1936 | Adolf II | 53 | Prince of Schaumburg- Lippe | Ford Tri-motor | Zumpango, Mexico XA-BCB |
While making a turn at low speed, the aircraaft stalled and crashed into a volcano. All 14 aboard killed. | |
Dec 7, 1936 10:47 |
Jean Mermoz |
35 | French aviator | Over the south Atlantic, off Dakar, Senegal | Latecoere 300 ''Croix du Sud'' Tri-engine | The last message from the aviator was "we have switched off the rear engine." The plane and crew of four were never found. | |
Dec 9, 1936 | Juan de la Cierva Arvid Lindman |
41 74 |
Spanish pioneer of rotary flight Prime Minister of Sweden |
Croydon, England | KLM Douglas DC-2 PH-AKL |
The aircraft crashed into houses while attempting to take off in heavy fog. All 16 aboard killed. | |
Jan 12, 1937 | Martin Johnson |
53 | American explorer and documentary film maker | Saugus, California | Western Air Express Flight 7 Boeing 247 NC13315 |
Crashed into Stone mountain while attempting to land at Burbank Airport in fog and rain. Pilot error. Descended without knowing his position. Five of 13 aboard killed. | |
Mar 22, 1937 | Mary Du Caurroy Tribe Russell | 71 | Dutchess of Bedford | Over the North Sea | de Havilland Gypsy | Disappeared over the North Sea on a solo flight. Her body was never found. | |
Jul 2, 1937 | Amelia Earhart |
39 | Aviator. First female aviatior to fly solo across the Atlantic | Off Lea, New Guinea | Lockheed 10E Electra NR16020 |
Disappeared en route from Lae to Howland Island. Most likely ran out of fuel and ditched into the ocean. Her navigator Fred Noonan also killed. | PHOTO |
Nov 16, 1937 | Grand Duke Ernest Ludwig Duchess Eleanore of Hesse Princess Cecilie |
69 66 26 |
Royalty | Ostende, Belgium | Sebena Junkers 52/3m OO-AUB |
The airliner crashed into a factory chimney on approach, in fog, after being diverted from Brussels to Ostende. All 11 aboard killed. |
|
Jan 11, 1938 | Captain Edwin Musick |
44 | Pan American's first and chief pilot | Pango Pango, U.S. Samoa | Pan American Airways Sikorsky S-42 seaplane NC16734 |
Exploded in mid-air as the crew dumped fuel in preparation for an emergency landing. All 6 aboard killed. | PHOTO |
Aug 31, 1938 | Frank Barnwell |
58 | British aircraft designer | Whitchurch, England | Experimental | Designed Bristol aircraft. He was a poor pilot and banned from flying any Bristol aircraft. He was killed while test flying his home built plane. | |
Sep 6, 1938 | John Hindmarsh | 31 | British race car driver, aviator | Near RAF Benson, England | Hawker Hurricane I | Flew into a hill during a nightime flight. | |
Oct 28, 1938 | Ramón Franco |
42 | Spanish aviation pioneer | Mallorca, Spain | Cantz Z-506/73-1 Hydroplane |
Crashed killing all aboard, cause unknown. | |
Dec 15,1935 | Valery Chaklov | 34 | Famous Soviet Union test pilot. Polar aviator. | Moscow, Russia | Polikarpov I-180 | The aircraft stalled, hit power lines and crashed. 1 killed. | |
Mar 18, 1939 | John "Jack" Kylstra A.G. von Baumhauer |
43 48 |
Boeing's chief engineer Dutch helicopter designer |
Adler, Washington | Boeing 307Stratoliner NX19901 |
Crashed after the tail broke off of the aircraft. All 13 aboard killed. |
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