Midair collisions

Collisions between two aircraft in flight: airliners and light aircraft, formation flights, aerial tours, and aircraft on the same approach to the same runway.

Some of them changed how the sky is managed: radar coverage, controlled airspace around busy airports, transponders and airborne collision avoidance all followed collisions like these. Open any record to see who was flying where.

More collections

• Wire strikes Power lines are close to invisible from a cockpit. The aircraft that fly lowest meet them most.
• Shot down Airliners and military aircraft brought down by missiles, fighters and anti-aircraft fire.
• Running on empty Fuel exhaustion and fuel starvation: engines that stopped with the tanks dry, or with fuel that couldn't reach them.
• Into the cloud: VFR flight into instrument conditions Pilots flying by sight who continued into cloud or darkness. Few of these end well.