Airline disasters are becoming real, in a very scary way. The year 2014 was a horrible year for airline disasters, where aircrafts seemingly disappeared in thin air or crashed horribly. Unfortunately, the year of 2015 isn’t shaping up to be any better with the crashes of some major aircrafts. From planes crashing into the mountains to planes exploding in mid-air to unknown reasons, these are the six worst airline disasters thus far in 2015.
6. Indonesian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules
It was June 30, 2015 when a C-130 Hercules aircraft crashed near a residential area, it was carrying 12 crew members and 109 passengers on board. All that were aboard were killed, along with 22 people on the ground. The aircraft was transporting military personnel and their families, along with paying civilians; a practice that is in violation of government regulations but is often tolerated in this part of the world. It crashed only two minutes after taking off and according to eyewitnesses clipped a cellphone tower after diving right and exploded in the air. After the investigation was complete it came out that one of the aircraft’s propellers had malfunctioned just before the aircraft hit the tower, indicating a mechanical failure.
5. Syrian Air Force An-26 Crash
On January 18, 2015 an Antonov An-26 crashed while attempting to land at the Abu al-Duhur military airport in Syria. The plane was operated by the Syrian Air Force and was carrying 30 Syrian troops, 5 Iranian military experts, as well as military equipment and ammunition. The reason the crash happened is still unknown as Syrian state media told the world that the crash happened due to heavy fog and or technical issues, while Al-Qaeda affiliated group Al-Nusra Front claimed they shot it down. Either way, a tragedy for those 35 people and their families.
4. TransAsia Airways Flight 235
This domestic flight crashed into the Keelung River on February 4, 2015 shortly after taking off from Taipei Songshan Airport. The aircraft was a 10-month old ATR 72-600 that was carrying 53 passengers and five crew members. Two minutes after taking off the pilot reported an engine flameout and after climbing to the maximum height of 1,500 feet and then descending, the other engine was shut off incorrectly. Of the 58 people on board, only 15 survived and that includes one crew member. This was the second fatal accident involving a TransAsia Airways ATR aircraft within seven months. Human error was the cause of this crash and after the investigation was complete, all 49 TransAsia Airways ATR pilots were put through testing. Ten of those pilots failed the engine-out oral test and 19 pilots failed to show up, all were suspended for a month.
3. Trigana Air Service Flight 257
This 45 minute scheduled passenger flight by Indonesian domestic airline Trigana crashed on August 16, 2015. It crashed 30 minutes after takeoff killing all 49 passengers and five crew members. Knowing what caused this crash is almost impossible as the terrain in which it crashed into has never been explored by humans. Although high altitude rescuers went in to recover victims and wreckage, they were unable to recover all the bodies. Still under investigation, Indonesian aviation safety, or lack thereof it, has been brought back into the spotlight once again this year.
2. Germanwings Flight 9525
This scheduled international passenger flight from Spain to Germany crashed in the French Alps on March 24, 2015. The Airbus A320-200 was carrying 144 passengers and six crew members, who were all killed. It was Germanwings first fatal accident in the 18 years that the company has existed. The investigation showed that the crash was deliberately caused by the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz who had been treated for suicidal tendencies and was declared unfit to work by his doctor. Lubitz hid this from his employer and during the flight locked the pilot out of the cockpit, before rapidly descending into the mountains. As a result of this incident aviation authorities around the world implemented new regulations that require two crew members to be in the cockpit at all times, so this tragedy will never happen again.
1. Kogalymavia Flight 9268
The most recent airline disaster to happen in 2015 was the international chartered passenger flight operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia. It crashed in northern Sinai on October 31, 2015 en route from Egypt to Russia. There was a total of 217 passengers and seven crew members on the Airbus A321-231. With a total of 224 fatalities, this marks the deadliest plane crash in 2015, along with being the deadliest crash in both the history of Russian aviation and within Egyptian territory. Investigations are currently underway but it has been stated that the plane broke up in mid-flight. How it broke up in mid-flight is still not known and there will rumors that continue to circulate until this is determined.
