Aviation Disasters: The World's Major Civil Airliner Crashes Since 1950

According to Sutton, the fourth edition of this excellent reference has now been released. My review of the third edition: The book includes only airline disasters which involved more than 50 fatalities. This is a shortcoming because many substantial lessons have been learned in accidents involving fewer fatalities. For example, only one of the two fatal Lockheed L-188 Electra crashes that were attributed to the "whirl-mode" phenomenon (see also: Robert Serling, "The Electra Story") made it into the book. Both of the early Comet disasters which were caused by fuselage skin fatigue and resulting explosive cabin decompression are omitted. Also, the Northwest B-720B which suffered a jet upset and resulting structural failure in an area of thunderstorm activity west of Miami, Florida in 1963 is also omitted. However, the book is well-worth its purchase price and it includes a summary of each accident, along with the probable cause, a list of publications consulted, a brief glossary, and a good index in which the entries are by aircraft type.

This book is absolutely fabulous. It covers in excellent detail every major air crash from 1950-1999. Some get small descriptions, but the most notable (Pan AM and KLM 747's on the runway at Tenerife, USAir 737 in Pittsburgh, TWA 800, Air Florida 090 (14th St Bridge in Washington), Korean Air 007 (Shot down by the Soviets) and more get very detailed descriptions. Addidtionally the author simply spells out the facts. He doesn't editorialize like other disaster books do. It's a fascinating historical read.

An exhaustive and thought provoking read - very hard to put down. Air travel is still, and by far, the safest mode of transportation available, and I would still take it over risking my life at the hands of...drivers on our freeways any day. However, in those rare instances when things do go seriously wrong in flight, the results are usually horrific. Pilot error, communications failure, mechanical breakdown, catastrophic structural failure - its all here. Gero provides detailed technical explanations of what went wrong, and the "lessons learned" from each crash that led to improvements in subsequent air travel that have made it safer for all of us. Highly recommended.

As a student of aviation safety and accident investigation, this book is the ULTIMATE resource. I have used it several times while taking my aircraft accident studies as a reference material for the cause and interesting details for specific crashes. I have also used it to anwser many a question regarding airline disasters. Of all my aviation books, I find I use this one at least once a week to find information. AVIATION DISASTERS is for anyone who ever wondered "Why?" and is fascinated with the story details and all the factors leading up to the cause of the event.

Briefly explains the apparent why and wherefore of mant well known and many not so well known aviation disasters. Some people may find the omision of the Comet disasters strange, but reading the preface would explain it all. (Accidents involving loss of 50 or more lives). What is noticeable is how the causes vary over the years. Piston engines breaking up due to continued overwork, stuffed clouds, crew indicipline and "why was the plane where it was and not where the crew thought it was"