Aircraft Crash Videos

The Thunderbird crash entry gets about ten times as many hits as any other page on this site, so I figured these other aviation “incident” videos might be of interest. They’ve been gathered from various sites around the internet over the years.

This entry started off as a way to share an amazing slow motion video clip of a helicopter main rotor blade in flight, but I’ll save that one for another day.

737 making a gear-up landingIf the gear is going to fail on a 737, this is one of the worst ways for it to happen — one main landing gear is up, the other is down. But the pilot does a great job of keeping the aircraft on the runway. There is something to be said for fixed gear… (61 second mpeg, 1.9 mb)


747 landing at Kai Tak Intl Airport in Hong KongHong Kong’s Kai Tak International Airport (now closed) was legendary for its approach procedure, which was offset 90 degrees from the runway heading. Pilots of even the largest jumbo jets had to make a tight turn at low altitude just seconds before touching down. Here, a Korean Airlines 747 makes what, believe it or not, is a typical approach into this airport. (18 second mpeg, 891 kb)

Airbus A320 lands in the treesHere’s a brand new Air France Airbus A320 making what was supposed to be a fly-by at a 1998 airshow. The pilot claims the highly automated control system on the A320 failed to respond properly to commands. The official investigation blamed pilot error as the cause, but it was later revealed that the aircraft’s black boxes had been switched after the crash. What really happened? Who knows. (24 second mpeg, 983 kb)

B-52 crashes at the Fairchild AFBThe flight crew of this B-52 was attemping a low speed, low altitude, 90 degree bank in a B-52 during a rehearsal for the 1994 Fairchild AFB airshow. The maneuver clearly exceeded the aircraft’s capabilities and published limitations, with predictable results. (26 second mpeg, 1.0 mb)

News helicopter makes a hard landing after the tail rotor failsHelicopter accidents can be quite spectacular. Thankfully, everyone walked away from this Aerospatiale AS-350BA news helicopter after it made a hard landing on top of a building in Brooklyn, NY. The preliminary NTSB accident report is here. (28 second mpeg, 2.0 mb)

Sea Knight helicopter botches a shipboard landingA high percentage of the nation’s helicopter fleet are operated by the military, which require a high level of performance from their aircraft. As you can imagine, this results in some interesting incidents. Here, a Sea Knight approaches a ship for landing. The pilot comes in a bit short, so he tries to back off for another attempt. But the left rear landing gear gets caught up on a safety barrier and the helicopter overturns right into the water. (79 seconds, wmv format, 2.6 mb)

Crash during a commuter aircraft demonstration“Flight demonstrations” often involve high-risk flight profiles. This is because the pilot’s goal is to show the full range of the aircraft’s performance envelope. This commuter aircraft, for example, was being demonstrated for potential buyers when a high performance landing attempt went awry. I can only assume the manufacturer didn’t fare too well in the sales department on this particular day. (4 second mpeg, 789 kb)

F-15 mid-air collision during a training exerciseThere’s nothing like a mid-air collision to ruin your day. In this case, two F-15s try to share the same airspace at the same time. Is it just me, or does the pilot sound a little stressed when he makes his mayday call? (20 seconds, wmv format, 693 kb)

Pilot attempts to fly a helicopter without any flight trainingPut this one in the Darwin Award nominee category. I’m going to go out on a limb here and unequivocably state that if you want to solo a helicopter, you really should get some flight training first. The only thing I can’t figure out is how someone with such a low IQ acquired the money to buy a Hughes 300 helicopter. Another victim of low interest rates, perhaps? (68 seconds, wmv format, 2.2 mb)

A helicopter attempts to tow a disabled boatHelicopters are great for many things, but towing disabled boats back to the dock is apparently not one of them. It’s a miracle the people in the boat were not hit with flying debris. I wonder if the pilot had to take a “709 ride” with the FAA after this. And if he did, what would the FAA test him on? The proper way to tow things with your rotorcraft? (26 seconds, wmv format, 326 kb)

Two Russian fighters collide during an airshowI find it tough to tell the latest generations of MiG and Sukhoi fighters apart. Be that as it may, here’s a clip of two Russian fighters colliding during an airshow performance. Amazingly, both pilots survive.(33 second mpeg, 2.2 mb)

An astounding demonstration of skill with a remote-controlled helicopterIf you only watch one video, make it this one. The file size is large, but it’s worth the wait. Dan sent this to me with a note saying it was the wackiest RC demonstration he’d ever seen. I couldn’t put it any better than that. Another video of this pilot at work is available here.(5:31, wmv format, 14.7 mb)

Sea Stallion cuts off it's own refueling probeThis excellent video demonstrates both the resilience of the Sea Stallion’s main rotor blades and the ease with which you can end up cutting off parts of your own aircraft if you’re not careful. Look at how that refueling basket flops around in the breeze. Between the rotor wash from the helicopter and the prop blast from the C-130’s engines, I’m surprised refueling a helo in flight works at all. (12 second mpeg, 3.1 mb)

Sea King autorotation goes sour?These clips are so short, sometimes it’s hard to tell exactly what precipitates the carnage. In this case, I’d guess the pilot was practicing an autorotation — or maybe experienced a real engine failure — and wasn’t able to arrest the descent rate in time. Once the main rotor blade ends up in the dirt, it’s all over. (15 second mpeg, 1.5 mb)

Sukhoi SU-26 flying under a bridge invertedDon’t try this at home! Aerobatic pilot Jurgis Kairys flies his Sukhoi SU-26 “Old Faithful” under a bridge — inverted — in Kaunas, Lithuania in 2001. Apparently they don’t have minimum safe altitude rules in the former Soviet republics. Note to self: gotta do some flying in Lithuania… (30 second mpeg, 1.4 mb)

  104 comments for “Aircraft Crash Videos

  1. Jon
    September 24, 2004 at 12:28 am

    I’ve done the trick shown in the last video… in a video game. In Battlefield 1942, you can jump in a fighter plane (a P-51 or Japanese Zero?), take off from an aircraft carrier and, if you’ve got the skills, fly it inverted under bridges.

  2. Ron
    September 24, 2004 at 1:36 am

    The guy who flew under that bridge inverted also did a Y2K celebration stunt where he flew under every single bridge in Kaunas. I don’t think he did them inverted with four lomcevaks at the end, but still, it’s an impressive feat. Even more impressive is the fact that he didn’t go to jail for it. He’d probably say I’ve been living in the U.S. too long. 🙂

  3. jason
    September 27, 2004 at 12:16 pm

    I think you started something… post a bunch of crash videos and then look what happens at Fullerton.

  4. Chad
    September 29, 2004 at 9:11 am

    Good guess on the sea king crash (next to last video). From what I remember (third- or fourth-hand info only has to be 10% true, remember that…), it was both. It was a capabilities demo (airshow? open house?) and the rotor/tail rotor gave out, and he lost his balance. You can see the busted rotor being pushed around at the end of the crash. Great site! Keep up the good work.

  5. tracyv
    October 2, 2004 at 10:15 pm

    everyone goto this website and read the truth about the B52 crash. This Holland guy was stupid!! Here is the case study.

  6. Ron
    October 2, 2004 at 11:00 pm

    Thanks for the link, Tracy. I looked all over for that analysis of the Fairchild accident. I think it was published on AVweb at one point, but I couldn’t find it there.

    I was surprised that a pilot with such poor judgement was allowed to continue flying for the Air Force.

  7. Dwight S
    October 5, 2004 at 7:00 am

    Wow. Good read. Real insight into the “Top Gun” mentality that probably still exists today.

  8. Praxodus Simplus
    October 7, 2004 at 2:32 am

    Actually, FYI, Jurgis Kairys is 100% lithuanian, not russian. Jesus, people, is it too hard to memorise that for f***ing thirteen years Lithuania is no more a part of Russia? Lithuanians aren’t even slavic, contrary to popular belief of westerners, they’re baltic.

  9. Roger
    October 7, 2004 at 2:16 pm

    Not to nit pick but this is not a chinook. It is a Sea Knight. The Chinook is an Army helicopter – much larger – this is a Marine Helicopter. Completely different airframe.

  10. Ron
    October 7, 2004 at 3:14 pm

    Thanks for the corrections guys! I’ll fix those.

  11. Lesley
    October 7, 2004 at 3:17 pm

    Awww…poor Ron…if anyone else picks on you, you let me know!

    I’M the only one who’s allowed to point out mistakes on your site. 🙂

  12. Roger
    October 11, 2004 at 1:43 pm

    Sorry. I didn’t know I couldn’t point out mistakes. I won’t do it again. But then again, every major media outlet covering the Iraq war got it wrong too.

    CH-46 Sea Knight
    http://www.rotorhead.org/military/ch46.asp
    Ch-47 Chinook
    http://www.rotorhead.org/military/ch47.asp

    Great site. Absolutely no mistakes!

    :>)

  13. Bob
    October 11, 2004 at 1:49 pm

    Very interesting site, I enjoyed it! Just a quick comment on the Seaking crash video, it was a Canadian aircraft, tail number 439. The crash occurred during an air show somewhere in upper New York state. I believe that it was the early nineties. Anyhow the loss of control was caused by a phenomenon know as Vortex Ring, basically the pilot went straight up and then exactly straight down directly through his own turbulence, the only way out is to fly out, the pilot reacted as he was trained and continued to try and pull more power in, this just made things worse. By the way everyone on board survived the crash and if I remember correctly there were to people sitting in the cargo door area sans seat belts. Anyone else out there remember this one?
    Bob F

  14. Ron
    October 11, 2004 at 2:01 pm

    Nah, point away Roger! If I had a dime for every mistake I’ve made in writing, I’d be so busy spending money there’d be no time left for writing about how much money I’d have. 😉

  15. ramin
    October 22, 2004 at 1:09 pm

    awesome i never thaught i would see the things i missed watching

  16. Dave Harris
    October 25, 2004 at 1:52 am

    This does not help my fear of flying! But what is strange is that l could fly in the backseat of,say,an F14 OR F15 but not in a passenger jet!

  17. D. Sveden
    October 25, 2004 at 10:24 pm

    The video you have of a mid-air between 2 F15s is really a combination of 2 videos. The pre-impact video was actually from the cockpit of an F-16 (a 2-seater giving a ride to a famous racecar driver). The post impact video and comm is from another F-16 which had just had a mid-air with an F-4 off the coast of Korea in the late 1980s. This crash resulted in the establishment of a training rule prohibiting head on attacks with all aspect missiles inside 9000 feet. Unfortunately the F-16 that hit the F-15 failed to comply with this rule and duplicated the results of the previous mid-air. I am not sure why someone would go through the trouble of splicing these 2 videos – they are actually pretty interesting in their original form

  18. Pilot Pete
    October 27, 2004 at 10:39 am

    the F15 sound is a hoax , its cut from a lead in section from the Game Loc-On – you fraudsters

  19. November 3, 2004 at 1:25 am

    Jurgis Kairys was not ‘busted’ for flying under the bridges because it was a sanctioned display. You can get the drum on him here http://www.jkairys.com/english/index.htm
    I saw him fly at the Warbirds over Wanaka airshow in April (Easter) this year and the mans ability is unequalled. It also helps having worked for the Sukhoi design bureau and designing and building your own aircraft (The Su-26, 28 and 31) He flew the 31 in NZ “The Kaibutsu” – additionally, having 400hp on a 2.6m dia prop on a fuselage that is stripped of paint each time it is repainted (talk about ‘anal’ on weight) allows you to ‘hang on the prop’ just like a helicopter, I have seen this and it is truly amazing.
    Note ; He is doing around 250kmh inverted under those bridges and the outside push loop he executes on entry exerts negative G forces strong enough to burst capilliaries in your face and affect your vision somewhat… He is coming to a country airshow down here (in Western Australia) in march next year and I will fly from the city to the country airshow strip just to see him….
    If he comes to your part of the world, sell your wife and go see him..!!!!

  20. November 3, 2004 at 2:02 am

    Got this info for you on the 2 MiG-29S that hit eachother (the one you comment on that you are unsure of type)

    Aircraft Location & Date
    Russia – Air Force
    Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29S
    Fairford (FFD / EGVA)
    UK – England, July 24, 1993

    Remark Photographer

    925 A split second after impact! I was following 526 (the upper MiG in the frame) 925 suddenly appeared in the top left hand corner of the view finder so I pressed the button! (Canon A1, Canon FD 100-300L, 1/500th Sec at f 5.6) scanned form Kodak EC100 (Ektachrome 100HC)
    Martin Pole

    Here is the URL to the still pic: (Not sure if it will stay current as it is a framed page search result)
    -Failing that, go to airliners.net and search using ‘crash/disasters etc’ and you will find it…

  21. November 3, 2004 at 3:06 am

    yeah, yeah, …. yeah… of course I actually meant ‘…push loop he executes on the EXIT (not entry) of the inverted fly under the bridge in the featured video…(ref; my first comment on Jurgis)
    (no flying today so beer was in order, it can impair your typing you know..)

  22. Julian Beirne
    November 20, 2004 at 3:30 pm

    I was there for that Mig crash at Fairfield. I was walking down the main aisleway and stopped to watch them cross each other. when they hit, everyone, and I mean everyone, soldiers, police, boy scouts and even St Johns ambulance brigade tried to get in on the action. I turned around and walked away from the scene in order to let the American resuce services do their job. Meanwhile the Yank airforce police had to swat away the Boy Scouts etc who thought that they could ‘help’ at the scene.
    It seemed that I was the only one walking the other way.
    My mate, a Sapper Corporal, did comment that the Russians would do anything to put on a good display.

  23. pelle
    November 22, 2004 at 7:42 am

    died the pilot of the Hughes 300 helicopter?

  24. Ron
    November 22, 2004 at 12:41 pm

    No, he survived. I don’t even think he was injured.

  25. b
    November 22, 2004 at 4:44 pm

    It would be more impressive if the RC helicopter was actually doing those things and the video wasn’t playing in reverse

  26. Flight Medic
    November 28, 2004 at 4:13 pm

    Seaking Canadian helo crash occurred at the Schenectady airshow in upstate NY. The crew had flown in the day prior and had partied the night prior. The flight crew had positive blood alcohol levels and empty beer cans were found in the wreckage after the crash. There were no fatalities. The survivors were medevac’d to a nearby trauma center. It was in the early 90’s.

  27. Laurent Lamy
    December 4, 2004 at 9:13 pm

    Low-level aerobatic waivers are legally available down to 0 ft even in the US. Hard to qualify for – but available (just look at Jim LeRoy’s routine!!!). Jurgis Kairys puts on a very impressive display of flying ability indeed!… “Unequalled” however – Hard to say, Peter Besenyei’s low level stunts are definitely equal if not more impressive than this one (not taking away any merit from Jurgis!!!). Decide for yourself: http://www.haute-voltige.com/inter/videos/videos.htm
    Australia has awsome airshow pilots of it’s own BTW. Chris Sperou, Pip Borman & Tom Moon – Mostly unknown on the world stage due how small a sport Aerobatics is in Australia, but all worthy of a mention as great aerial showmen.

  28. bob
    December 14, 2004 at 6:13 pm

    the guy with the hughs 300 helicopter never even bothered to read to the instruction manual! Or maybe he’s just horible with a joystick. Hand Eye coordination, god! The russian airsow was cool to watch, though. P.S. The helicopter accident video on the roof did not load and brought me back to a comcast.net page that said it was unavailable.

  29. Mike E.
    December 17, 2004 at 12:35 am

    I’ve tried to find the NTSB accident report on the student accident with the Hughes 300 helicopter. I cannot see the registration number well enough to find more information about it. Judging by the accents of the people talking in the video, they are definately American. Does anyone have more facts about this reckless twit and the accident? I’d love to know. Many thanks!

  30. Martyn
    December 23, 2004 at 8:59 pm

    B, were you being funny? Can’t tell, but in case not, the RC chopper video is not playing in reverse. It would be vacuuming up its own smoke if that was the case. I’ve seen these manouevres at RC flying days; RC choppers just are really freaky. 🙂

  31. January 17, 2005 at 6:47 am

    Hi, I’m not sure – it’s been a long time, though I have a feeling it might have been a guy called ‘Paul Terry’ – I can’t remember if it was a Hughes or a Robinson, though he had done quite a number of hours prior to the crash that killed him.

    I never met him, but I did meet his wife – very compassionate lady. He was from Albany Australia.

    Keep in mind, my information may indeed be totally unrelated to the helicopter crash here…

  32. sand
    January 27, 2005 at 5:01 am

    niiiice
    easy now my little chickens ! ! !

  33. February 17, 2005 at 9:36 pm

    Ok, I was wrong, this was just some idiot in a helicopter, he did survive.

  34. Steph
    February 25, 2005 at 6:29 pm

    Just wondering if anyone knows more information on the Sea Knight Video.

  35. Maverick
    March 3, 2005 at 12:48 pm

    ALL THIS THINGS ARE IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN SAFETY AVIATION WE LERN TO AVOID HAPPEN AGAIN.
    TO PROMOTE AND PROTEC SAFETY AVIATION AROUND THE WORLD
    KEEP WORKING.USE THE CHECK LIST BEFORE FLY
    ABOUT ALL SAFE LIVES

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  37. don
    March 11, 2005 at 5:53 pm

    great site

  38. jason
    March 11, 2005 at 6:58 pm

    This page gives the story behind the Sea Knight crash video.

  39. Seaking technician
    March 13, 2005 at 11:14 am

    “The crew had flown in the day prior and had partied the night prior. The flight crew had positive blood alcohol levels and empty beer cans were found in the wreckage after the crash.”

    Uh-huh. Sure……….and how long have you been writing for the National Enquirer?

    “Anyhow the loss of control was caused by a phenomenon know as Vortex Ring, ”

    And that’s the way it was. Thank you and good night.

  40. jani
    March 14, 2005 at 5:22 pm

    I love these “forums”.Lot of opinion, poor on facts. Lot of implied knowledge and yet flunking minimum altitude of intellect.
    Everybody is an expert-of course. I am a retired aerospace engineer and pilot in the usa, so I am not that young as to know as much as the young aces. But the symptoms are here: CONSTIPATION OF MIND-DIARRHEA OF THE MOUTH.

  41. jedipilot
    March 15, 2005 at 12:33 pm

    R/C copter flying backwards he he you silly plank. when you see this for real you know what they can do ha ha ha ha backwards hi hi hi hi hi ha ha ha you made me laugh

    thanks

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  43. Brian Morrison
    March 23, 2005 at 10:59 am

    The 7th video clip you show above was of a de Havilland Canada Buffalo (I think). It was being demonstrated at the Farnborough Air Show in the UK in 1984, I was there as at the time I worked as a student engineer for part of the GEC group in the UK.

    The aircraft was being flown by an ex-RAF Red Arrows team leader (I forget his name) and at the time was making a steep approach to a short landing. It was a cold, gusty day and I was near the eastern end of the static park watching the aircraft descending steeply. As he was coming down there was a sudden sharp gust of wind from the east, an instant later I could see the aircraft being to sink very rapidly and immediately the elevator up angle became very marked. One of my friends also there said “I don’t think he’s going to make it!” He was right.

    After the impact both impact-triggered fire extinguishers fired and snuffed out the burst of flame from both engines as the wings crumpled, the undercarriage broke and most of the propeller blades flew off. After this we walked down to see the very tired and crumpled aircraft sitting on the edge of the runway with the airport fire service in attendance putting foam down onto the fuel that was spilled all over the place. It was instructive to note that several of the aircraft in the static park, inlcuding an F-16, had holes of various shapes and sizes in them where pieces of debris had hit them. I’m quite amazed still that there were no injuries among the spectators along the railings facing the runway at the edge of the static park. The show commentator was busy telling everyone that despite the damage the fuselage was intact and the survival chances of passengers in such an impact were very good. I did note that it took a while for the crew to vacate the aircraft, maybe because they were suffering from jelly legs syndrome.

    I’ve seen other videos of the crash where it is possible to see one propeller blade executing a ballastic trajectory over the top of the crowd and the static park, heading off towards the car parking area. As we walked back towards our coach at the end of the day, we passed by the spot where the blade landed in the car park, It had basically flattened one car from the windscreen back to the tailgate, although the car was very old and worth very little. Either side of this, and undamaged, were two brand new shiny expensive Mercedes-Benz and Rolls-Royce cars. So at least someone had some luck that day.

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  45. GRaham Bartlett
    March 27, 2005 at 6:30 am

    Re: Jurgis aerobatics, I have seen Chris Sperou do his thing and last week saw Jurgis do his open routine at Australian International Airshow and he was awesome. I have never seen such amazing aerobatics and by the way Chris Sperou is very good.

  46. Chris J
    March 29, 2005 at 8:19 am

    I saw the wreckage of the Canadian Seaking, just after it happened. It was at the Schenectady County Airshow, back in 1980 or 81 (not early 90s). My dad and I arrived about 30 minutes after the crash, while the fire trucks and ambulances were still at the crash. The Blue Angles flew later that afternoon.

  47. Sanjiv
    March 30, 2005 at 7:31 am

    Great site, guys! Glad I’m not an aviator!! Surprising, though, that most pilots survive these crashes. Amazing.

  48. Charlie Hollinger
    April 2, 2005 at 4:36 am

    Home page charliehollinger .com fell free to use any videos on my home page , I am flying a bell 47 pretty good videos , (training videos and Misc movies)

    Charlie H.Hollinger

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