Every year, a number of military aircraft ranging from single-seat fighters to fully laden cargo planes are lost in accidents. Because these disasters often occur in remote corners of the world and rarely involve members of the general public, they seldom attract the sort of media attention given to those disasters which involve civil aircraft.

A collection of declassified photographs of military aviation accidents from World War II to the present day including ditchings, gear-up landings, fires, and engine explosions.

Flying as an airline passenger is, statistically, one of the safest forms of travel. Even so, the history of civil aviation is littered with high-profile disasters involving major loss of life. This new edition of the authoritative work on the subject brings the grim but important story of air disasters right up to date. David Gero assembles a list of major air disasters since the 1950s across continents. He investigates every type of calamity, including those caused by appalling weather, mechanical failure, pilot error, inhospitable terrain and hostile action. The first incident of sabotage involving a commercial jetliner is covered, as is the first, much-feared crash of the jumbo jet era. Examined alongside less well-known disasters are high-profile episodes such as that of Pan American Flight 103 at Lockerbie in 1988, the Twin Towers tragedy of 11 September 2001 and, more recently, the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in 2014 – the greatest mystery of the commercial jet age. Aviation Disasters is the authoritative record of air disasters worldwide, fully illustrated with a fascinating selection of photographs.

The little-known story of a major catastrophe in a 1960s African American community: A “commendable, if unsettling, account.” —Richard Kluger, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Simple Justice On the cold Saturday morning of January 16, 1965, a U.S. Air Force KC-135 tanker carrying thirty-one thousand gallons of jet fuel crashed into a congested African American neighborhood in Wichita, Kansas. When the fire and destruction finally subsided, forty-seven people—mostly African American children—were dead or injured, homes were completely destroyed and numerous families were splintered. As shocking as it may sound, the event was seemingly omitted from the historical record for nearly fifty years. Now, historian D. W. Carter examines the myths and realities of the crash while providing new insights about the horrific four-minute flight that forever changed the history of Kansas. Includes photographs

"On the cold Saturday morning of January 16, 1965, a U.S. Air Force KC-135 tanker carrying thirty-one thousand gallons of jet fuel crashedinto a congested African American neighborhood in Wichita, Kansas. When the fire and destruction finally subsided, forty-seven people--mostly African American children--were dead or injured, homes were completely destroyed and numerous families were splintered. As shocking as it may sound, the event was seemingly omitted from the historical record for nearly fifty years. Now, historian D. W. Carter examines the myths and realities of the crash while providing new insights about the horrific four-minute flight that forever changed the history of Kansas. "--

"This book sets forth in detail eighty-nine of the world's most serious (in terms of human lives lost) airplane disasters starting in 1927. The narrative coverage includes those events preceding a particular calamity, often the excruciating search for a missing plane, the sad task of body recovery, and the vital investigative efforts leading to a probable cause, lessons learned, and progressive measures required to prevent or minimize repeat occurrences."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This fascinating story explains how aviation crashes are investigated, and what goes on behind the scenes to improve safety. It is also the untold saga of how one maverick scientist battled the bureaucracy to save lives. Federal officials hired him to prevent an anticipated bloodbath from airline deregulation. He soon introduced innovations, such as Crew Resource Management training, which dramatically reduced airline accidents. However, when he dared expose lies to Congress, officials used the sky marshals to harass him. They then ignored his other programs, which contributed to countless unnecessary deaths -- including JFK Junior's. Becoming a military safety guru, his important tasks included training Air Force One crews, and going undercover to discover why a mysterious Soviet airliner crash killed an African president. But he was fired for blowing the whistle on the Pentagon cover-up of the worst fratricide since Vietnam. Congress and other important organizations have often sought his advice on civil and military aviation problems.