Thursday 11 June 2009

5 Worst Aircrashes in the World

1
Wreckage of United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757, on a scheduled flight from Newark to San Francisco, which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.



American Airlines, Flight 77, a Boeing 757, on a scheduled flight from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, moments after crashing into the Pentagon.




The 9/11 attacks have spawned a number of conspiracy theories challenging the mainstream account. One of the best-known theories was put forward by Thierry Meyssan which contends that the Pentagon was not hit by a Boeing 757, but by a missile launched by the American military. Proponents say that the 75-foot (23 m) hole is too small to account for an aircraft with a wingspan of 124 feet (38 m). Mete Sozen, a member of the ASCE team onsite after the crash, explained that an airplane does not create a "cartoon-like outline of itself" when crashing into a reinforced concrete building. Conspiracy advocates also point to other minutiae such as small amount of debris or the condition of grass on the lawn. The documentary film Loose Change asserts that there were no discernible pieces of debris from Flight 77. Blast expert Allyn E. Kilsheimer was the first structural engineer to arrive at the Pentagon after the crash and helped coordinate the emergency response. He states that Flight 77 "was absolutely a plane. I saw the marks of the plane wing on the face of the building. I picked up parts of the plane with the airline markings on them. I held in my hand the tail section of the plane, and I found the black box." In addition, Kilsheimer's account is supported by the photos of plane wreckage inside and outside the building. The Sheraton National Hotel may have recorded footage of the events that happened at the Pentagon however, the FBI seized a CCTV recording. They had also hastily seized footage from several other private businesses in the area that claimed they had filmed the events.

United Airlines, Flight 175, a Boeing 767, on a scheduled flight from Boston to Los Angeles, crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York.






They argued that the aircraft that hit this tower evaporated as well, taking everything with it as ashes falling with the building to the ground and isn't it amazing how they were able to salvaged the pilot's passport from the wreckage? They failed to recover the black box of this aircraft due to its alleged evaporation considering black boxes are enclosed in a heavily thick metal to ensure its survival even with the most severe impact and explosion. I pitied for the non-surviving metal pieces of black box and I rejoiced for a piece of paper that survived it all after all those metal evaporating temperature. Atta pasport! - Ironies...

American Airlines, Flight 11, a Boeing 767, on a scheduled flight from Boston to Los Angeles, crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York.








Date: September 11, 2001
Location:

New York, NY
New York, NY
Arlington, Virginia
Shanksville, Pennsylvania

Aircraft: Boeing 767-223ER
Boeing B-767-222
Boeing B-757-223
Boeing B-757-222
Reg: N334AA
N612UA
N644AA
N591UA
Airline:

American Airlines
United Airlines
American Airlines
United Airlines

Flight No: 11
175
77
93
Fatalities: 265 : 265 +2583
Hijacking and deliberate destruction of 4 separate aircraft by terrorists resulted in the deaths of thousands.
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2
The remains of a Pan Am B747 (top) and KLM B747 (bottom) in Tenerife, Canary Islands in the second worst aviation disaster in history, which killed a total of 583 people. The KLM 747 collided with a Pan Am 747 after the captain of the KLM plane started his takeoff roll without clearance.


Date: March 27, 1977
Location: Tenerife, Canary Islands
Aircraft: Boeing B-747-121 / Boeing B-747-206B
Reg: N736PA/PH-BUF
Airline: Pan American World Airways / KLM
Flight No: 1736 / 4805
Fatalities: 644 : 583

Last word from the Pilot:There he is .. look at him! Goddamn that son-of-a-bitch is coming! Get off!

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3
Date: August 12, 1985
Location: Mt. Osutaka, near Ueno Village, Japan
Aircraft: Boeing B-747-SR46
Reg: JA8119
Airline: Japan Air Lines
Flight No: 123
Fatalities: 524 : 520

The wreckage of a Japan Airlines Flight 123, a Boeing 747 that crashed on Mt. Osutaka, Japan. Five-hundred twenty people out of 524 aboard were killed. Improper repairs by Boeing after a tail strike 7 years earlier, led to a rupture of the pressure bulkhead and loss of all controls.



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4

The remains of a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 after a midair collision with a Kazastan Airlines Ilyushin 76 over New Delhi, India resulting in the loss of 349 lives. Reports vary but a misunderstanding of directions between the ATC and the Ilyushin 76 plane seems to have led to the accident.



Date: November 12, 1996
Location: Near Charkhidadri, India
Aircraft: Boeing B-747-168B / Ilyushin IL-76TD
Reg: HZ-AIH / UN-76435
Airline: Saudi Arabian Airlines / Kazastan Airlines
Flight No: 763 / 1907
Fatalities: 349 : 349

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5
Date: March 03, 1974
Location: Near Ermenonville, France
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10
Reg: TC-JAV
Airline: Turkish Airlines
Flight No: 981
Fatalities: 346 : 346



Not many pieces of wreckage larger than 3 feet long could be found after a Turkish Airlines Flight 981 DC-10 crashed into a forest at a high rate of speed at Ermenonville, France. A defective latching mechanism on the cargo door caused it to fail in flight resulting in decompression and loss of all hydraulic control.

H1N1 influenza A / Swine Flu Pandemic









GENEVA – The World Health Organization declared H1N1 influenza A or a Swine Flu Pandemic Thursday — the first global flu epidemic in 41 years — as infections in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere climbed to nearly 30,000 cases. WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan made the announcement Thursday after the U.N. agency held an emergency meeting with flu experts. Chan said she was moving the world to phase 6 — the agency's highest alert level — which means a pandemic, or global epidemic, is under way.

WHO said 74 countries had reported 28,774 cases of swine flu, including 144 deaths. Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu were previously young and healthy — people who are not usually susceptible to flu.

The last pandemic — the Hong Kong flu of 1968 — killed about 1 million people. Ordinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people each year. Swine flu is also continuing to spread during the start of summer in the northern hemisphere. Normally, flu viruses disappear with warm weather, but swine flu is proving to be resilient.

Chile has the most swine flu cases in South America, and the southern hemisphere is moving into its winter flu season.

In the United States, where there have been more than 13,000 cases and at least 27 deaths from swine flu. The government has already taken steps like increasing availability of flu-fighting medicines and authorizing $1 billion for the development of a new vaccine against the novel virus.

In Mexico, where the epidemic was first detected, the outbreak peaked in April now has less than 30 cases reported a day, down from an average of 300. Mexico has confirmed 6,337 cases, including 108 deaths.

Many experts said the declaration of a pandemic did not mean the virus was getting deadlier. But the swine flu virus might evolve into a more dangerous strain in the future. "That is always a possibility with influenza viruses," said John Oxford, a professor of virology at St. Bart's and Royal London Hospital.