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USAir Flight 427 - This flight crashed in 1994 as it was approaching the runway at Pittsburgh International.

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USAir Flight 427 - The plane had a faulty rudder, which jammed, causing the plane to fall.

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USAir Flight 427 - The pilots were unable to save the plane, and it crashed seconds later, killing all 132 passengers and crew.

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American Airlines Flight 191 -

In 1979, a flight took off from Chicago O’Hare, only to immediately have its left engine come loose and rip over the wing, causing the plane to roll.

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American Airlines Flight 191 -

The plane crashed into a trailer park at the end of the runway a few thousand feet later.

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American Airlines Flight 191 -

The crash killed 258 passengers and 13 crew members, leaving no survivors. The cause of the crash was determined to be the use of dangerous shortcuts during routine maintenance of the plane.

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Valujet Flight 592 -

The budget airline had cheap fares because it spent very little on airplane maintenance.

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Valujet Flight 592 - In May 1996, a Valujet flight attempted to fly from Miami to Atlanta, but experienced trouble in the air and crashed into the Florida Everglades, causing everyone onboard to perish.

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Valujet Flight 592 -

The company suffered major losses after the crash, and as a result operated as AirTran Airways up until it was eventually bought by Southwest Airlines.

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Pan Am Flight 759 -

This 1982 tragedy occurred as a result of bad weather.

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Pan Am Flight 759 - The plane attempted to take off from New Orleans' airport, but was hit by an intense wind that caused it to stop gaining altitude when it was just 150 ft off the ground.

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Pan Am Flight 759 -

The plane hit the ground, exploding on impact, and killed all 153 passengers and crew, plus four people on the ground.

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Alaska Airlines Flight 261 - In 2000, this flight was attempting to land in San Francisco, but as it descended over the ocean it suddenly took a violent nosedive and began hurtling downward.

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Alaska Airlines Flight 261 - As a result of faulty maintenance, the horizontal stabilizer on the plane’s tail had jammed, and the pilots had to pull on it with massive effort to keep the plane from falling.

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Alaska Airlines Flight 261 -

However, as they announced a new landing strategy, the aircraft began to fall again, and the pilots couldn’t fix it this time. It hit the Pacific Ocean hard, killing all 83 passengers and crew.

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The Park Slope Plane Crash - Two planes collided in the air above New York City in 1960. A United flight and a TWA flight were scheduled to land at different New York airports, but the United plane’s navigation systems failed and the sky was obscured with fog and rain.

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The Park Slope Plane Crash - The crew did not notify air traffic control and flew off course, eventually crashing into the TWA plane. After the collision, the TWA plane fell into Staten Island and New York Harbor, and the United plane fell into Brooklyn.

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The Park Slope Plane Crash - The crash killed 128 passengers and crew as well as six people on the ground, with the only survivor dying the next day of pneumonia.

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Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 - This Pacific Southwest flight in 1978 encountered a smaller daily flight as it approached San Diego.

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Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 - Unfortunately, the two airplanes collided, with the smaller plane ripping off parts of the larger plane’s wing and causing both planes to fall to the ground.

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Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 -

The collision killed all 144 passengers and crew on the 727, both pilots of the smaller plane, plus seven people on the ground. The crash is said to have occurred because the smaller plane’s pilot was wearing a sun visor that impaired his vision. This crash caused major reform with regard to air traffic policies.

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TWA Flight 800 - In 1996, this airplane suffered an explosion shortly after takeoff, the result of a short circuit in a fuel tank. Some conspiracy theorists say that a US Navy ship accidentally fired at the plane.

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TWA Flight 800 - Either way, the airplane began to fall apart shortly after becoming airborne.

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TWA Flight 800 - The flight fell into the ocean near Long Island, just 12 minutes after takeoff.

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American Airlines Flight 587 -

In November 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, this plane attempted to take off from JFK when its tail suddenly detached, causing the vehicle to fall.

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American Airlines Flight 587 - The cause of this is said to be co-pilot error, with the co-pilot acting too aggressively while using the rudder, which caused structural failure.

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American Airlines Flight 587 - The plane crashed into Queens, killing all 260 people on board, plus five people on the ground.

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Delta Airlines Flight 191 - This 1985 crash occurred when the crew decided to fly through a severe thunderstorm in order to stay on schedule.

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Delta Airlines Flight 191 - Just before the plane was supposed to land on the runway, an intense downward gust of wind occurred right in front of it, causing the pilots to lose control.

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Delta Airlines Flight 191 -

The plane crashed into a water tank, killing 136 out of 163 passengers and crew, plus a motorist on the ground. The crash occurred as a result of inadequate training.

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American Airlines flight 5342 -

On January 29, American Airlines flight 5342 collided midair with an Army helicopter, killing 67 people, in what is the deadliest US air disaster in more than 20 years.

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American Airlines flight 5342 -

The flight departed from Wichita, Kansas, with destination to Washington, D.C., with the collision occurring shortly before landing.

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American Airlines flight 5342 -

Both aircraft fell into the Potomac River, where rescue teams quickly mobilized to search for possible survivors  and to recover debris.

See also: Fallen stars–celebrities who perished in air crashes

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