“Good day everyone. This is your captain speaking. We’ll be leaving the gate shortly for our three‑hour flight. The weather looks fine, so we should be looking at a smooth, comfortable ride.”
Below you’ll find the top 10 ways your pilot might accidentally end your journey – a sobering reminder that even routine flights can go horribly wrong.
Top 10 Ways Pilots Can Accidentally Kill You
10 By Never Even Getting on the (Right) Runway
It takes a uniquely careless crew to kill passengers before the aircraft even leaves the ground. On December 3, 1990, at Detroit’s Wayne County Airport, Northwest Airlines Flight 1482 – a DC‑9 piloted by Captain William Lovelace and First Officer James Schifferns – was cleared for departure with 40 souls aboard. The day was shrouded in dense, low‑lying fog, but the aircraft could easily have climbed above it.
After pushing back from the gate, the flight taxied toward Runway 03C, yet the crew mistakenly turned onto a taxiway. Air‑traffic control instructed them to make a right‑hand turn to double back, but instead the pair somehow managed to line up directly on the active runway without realizing their error.
Only after contacting the tower did they learn the grave mistake; ATC ordered an immediate exit. Mere seconds later, Northwest Flight 299, a Boeing 727 bound for Memphis, barreled down the same strip, its wing slashing into the right side of the DC‑9, ripping through the fuselage just below the windows and shearing off the right engine.
The 727’s pilot executed a perfect rejected takeoff, bringing the aircraft to a halt with all 146 passengers and eight crew unharmed. Meanwhile, the DC‑9 erupted in flames and was destroyed. Seven passengers and a flight attendant lost their lives, and another ten sustained serious injuries. The investigation faulted not only the pilots but also the tower for failing to issue progressive taxi instructions in the poor visibility.
9 By Forgetting to De‑Ice the Wings in a Snowstorm
Ensuring that ice has not accumulated on an airplane’s wings is a basic safety step, reinforced by clearly marked Ice Protection Systems even in the 1980s. Yet Captain Larry M. Wheaton, despite 8,000 flight hours, overlooked this critical checklist item on a snowy morning.
On January 13, 1982, Washington D.C.’s National Airport had just reopened after a deluge. Captain Wheaton’s Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737 bound for Fort Lauderdale with 74 passengers, was cleared for departure while a fresh coating of snow clung to the wings.
Realizing the oversight shortly after push‑back, Wheaton and First Officer Roger Pettit tried an improvised fix: they attempted to use the exhaust from the aircraft ahead in the queue to melt the ice. The plan was reckless, and the makeshift de‑icing failed outright. Adding to the misjudgment, they elected to proceed despite a known power problem on the taxiway.
The aircraft lifted off, climbing to roughly 350 feet before losing lift. The 737 plunged into an overpass, then crashed into the Potomac River. Seventy passengers and four crew members perished, including both pilots; four motorists on the ground also died. Only five people survived, plucked from the icy river by helicopter, though at least 19 may have initially survived the impact.
8 By Turning the Plane into a High‑Speed Bus
On August 20, 2008, Captain Antonio Garcia Luna and First Officer Francisco Javier Mulet set out to fly a routine Barcelona‑to‑Madrid hop on a McDonnell Douglas MD‑82, yet a cascade of oversights turned the aircraft into a tragic high‑speed bus.
The flight, SpanAir 5022, was originally delayed because the ram‑air‑temperature probe showed an excessive reading. After the aircraft was moved to a parking area, maintenance personnel disabled the probe’s heater, assuming no ice would form on a clear‑sky August day in Spain.
When the crew finally cleared for takeoff, both pilots forgot to extend the flaps and slats – the high‑lift devices essential for generating enough lift at low speeds. Compounding the error, the warning system that should have flagged the omission malfunctioned, leaving the crew unaware of the critical mistake.
The MD‑82 briefly left the ground, rolled sharply to the right, and slammed into the ground beside the runway. The wings tore away, the fuselage broke in two, and a massive fire consumed the larger section. Of the 172 occupants, 154 lost their lives; only 18 survived the catastrophe.
7 By Not Being in the Cockpit
On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight 447 departed Rio de Janeiro for Paris aboard an Airbus A330 carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew members. The flight roster included three flight‑trained officers rather than the usual two, allowing for continuous cockpit coverage during the long haul.
Captain Marc DuBois stepped away for a scheduled mid‑flight break while the aircraft traversed the Atlantic. Fifteen minutes later, First Officer David Robert summoned him back, but during DuBois’s brief absence the plane entered turbulent air and began accumulating wing ice.
The aircraft entered a stall, and the two pilots – neither of whom held a captain’s rank – reacted incorrectly. Just before DuBois re‑entered, co‑First Officer Pierre‑Cédric Bonin exclaimed, “[Expletive] I don’t have control of the airplane any more now!” DuBois’s first words on returning were a bewildered, “Er… what are you doing?” as alarms blared and the nose pointed upward while the aircraft descended steeply.
Robert repeatedly shouted “Climb!” while Bonin countered, “I’ve been at maximum nose‑up for a while!” Realizing the stall was being aggravated, DuBois shouted, “No, don’t climb! No! No! No!” The Airbus ultimately crashed into the ocean, killing everyone on board. Investigators concluded that a captain‑level pilot’s presence might have averted the disaster.
6 By the Co‑Pilot Hitting One Wrong Button
It seems almost impossible to kill 264 people with a single button press, yet that’s exactly what happened when 26‑year‑old First Officer Chuang Meng‑jung mistakenly hit the wrong switch on China Airlines Flight 140.
On April 26, 1994, the Airbus A300 was on final approach to Nagoya, Japan, descending smoothly at a safe angle. At an altitude of 1,000 feet, Meng‑jung inadvertently selected the take‑off/go‑around mode, which commanded the autopilot to increase thrust for a second landing attempt.
The crew quickly pulled back the throttles and pushed the yoke forward, but the autopilot, acting on the erroneous go‑around command, drove the horizontal stabilizer to a full nose‑up position, fighting the pilots’ inputs.
Unaware that the autopilot was still in go‑around mode, the crew then independently decided to execute a genuine go‑around, compounding the nose‑up attitude. The aircraft pitched excessively high, stalled aerodynamically, and plummeted like a brick. Of the 271 occupants, only seven survived the crash.
5 By Crashing into Another Bad Pilot in Midair
What are the odds? In the mid‑1950s, midair collisions were distressingly common. On June 30, 1956, a TWA Super Constellation and a United DC‑7, together carrying 128 souls, collided over the Grand Canyon at 21,000 feet.
The TWA aircraft lost its tail, while the United plane’s left wing was sliced away. The Constellation nosedived into a plateau just 300 feet above the Colorado River; the DC‑7 managed to travel another mile before slamming into a butte and then a rugged gulch. Every passenger and crew member on both aircraft perished.
Mid‑century skies were less crowded, yet between 1948 and 1955 there were 127 midair collisions in the United States, 30 of which involved commercial airliners. The Grand Canyon disaster highlighted both pilot visibility failures and an antiquated air‑traffic control system.
The tragedy spurred the creation of the Federal Aviation Administration in 1957 and the National Transportation Safety Board, ushering in modern collision‑avoidance protocols.
4 By Getting Distracted By a Spent Lightbulb
Calling the crew of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 “dim‑bulb” may seem harsh, but the crash stemmed from a simple burned‑out indicator light – arguably the most absurd cause of a commercial airliner disaster.
On December 29, 1972, the Lockheed Tristar, carrying 163 passengers and 13 crew from JFK to Miami, began its approach. When the landing gear was lowered, First Officer Albert Stockstill noticed the green gear‑indicator light failed to illuminate, suggesting the nose gear might not be locked.
The three‑person flight crew – Stockstill, Flight Engineer Donald Repo, and Captain Robert Loft, a 32‑year veteran – reported the issue to Miami control and received clearance for a holding pattern at 2,000 feet. Repo was sent to the avionics bay to verify gear status, while Stockstill was told to engage the autopilot.
Unfortunately, the autopilot was set to a mode that caused a slow, unnoticed descent. While the crew was preoccupied with the faulty light, the aircraft gradually lost altitude until it crashed into the Everglades.
Captain Loft’s final recorded words, ten seconds before impact, were a bewildered “Hey, what’s happening here?” The accident claimed 101 lives. Investigations later revealed the indicator problem was merely a burned‑out bulb, and the gear could have been manually lowered.
3 By Blowing the Beginning of the Landing
Modern avionics have made the landing phase far safer, yet a pilot’s misuse of automation can still prove fatal. On February 9, 2009, Captain Marvin Renslow and 24‑year‑old First Officer Rebecca Shaw were guiding Colgan Air Flight 3407, a Bombardier Dash‑8, into Buffalo, New York.
The aircraft, carrying 49 passengers, faced frigid winter conditions that encouraged ice buildup. Airline policy required a manual landing under such circumstances, but Renslow kept the plane on autopilot as it slowed for touchdown.
The aircraft’s speed continued to drop until the “shaker stick” – a stall warning device – activated, indicating an imminent stall. Instead of lowering the nose and applying full thrust, Renslow abruptly pulled back on the control column and increased thrust to only 75 percent, an incorrect response.
The plane entered a violent, uncontrolled series of pitch‑up, pitch‑down, and roll motions, ultimately crashing into a house, igniting a fire, and killing everyone on board plus one person on the ground. The accident sparked a major industry push for stricter crew‑rest regulations, as fatigue was identified as a contributing factor.
2 By Blowing the Middle of the Landing
Nearly half of all fatal crashes occur during the final descent and landing – the most hazardous phase of any flight. On September 27, 1977, the captain of Japan Airlines Flight 715 was attempting a VOR approach into Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Malaysia.
The aircraft, a DC‑8, was instructed to maintain a Minimum Descent Altitude (MDA) of 750 feet until the runway became visible. With gear down and flaps extended, the plane reached the MDA but continued descending, eventually reaching just 300 feet before slamming into a hillside four miles from the airport.
The impact broke the aircraft apart and ignited a fire. Of the 79 occupants, 34 perished. The investigation concluded the captain had descended below the prescribed altitude without visual contact, violating procedure, while the first officer failed to intervene.
This tragedy underscored the importance of strict adherence to MDA limits and highlighted the need for vigilant crew coordination during low‑visibility approaches.
1 By Blowing the End of the Landing
Many fatal accidents happen right at touchdown, often because the aircraft overshoots or undershoots the runway. A particularly bizarre case unfolded on May 22, 2020, when Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303, an Airbus A320, was descending into Karachi from Lahore.
The aircraft’s descent was unusually steep, alarming air‑traffic controllers. Captain Sajjad Gul and First Officer Usman Azam attempted to land without extending the landing gear – a grave error despite numerous warning systems designed to prevent such an oversight.
At excessive speeds exceeding 200 mph – about 40 mph faster than a normal Airbus landing – the engines scraped the runway surface. The crew managed to climb away briefly, but the aircraft lost power and crashed into a nearby residential area, killing one person on the ground. Only two passengers survived the disaster.
The incident sparked intense scrutiny of cockpit discipline and highlighted how a simple gear‑up landing can have catastrophic consequences, even with modern safety technology.
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