Five Most Mysterious Plane Crashes in Recent History

VIVA – The plane is a mode of transportation that people often use to travel. On the other side, unfortunately, traveling by plane can have fatal accidents and kill many people.

The causes of aircraft accidents are also various. Starting from human error, mechanical failure, or unfriendly weather conditions. In addition, there are also incidents of planes suddenly disappearing from sophisticated radar systems with fatalities not found or debris carried by ocean currents very far from the location where the fuselage was reported missing.

So here are the five most mysterious plane crash incidents in recent history, as reported by several sources.

1. Air France Flight 477

Ten years ago, Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic with the loss of all 216 passengers and 12 crew.

The tragedy was keenly felt in Ireland as it claimed the lives of three Irish doctors, Jane Deasy from Rathgar, Co Dublin, Aisling Butler from Roscrea, Co Tipperary, and Eithne Walls from Ballygowan, Co Down.

The cause was a mystery until the black box flight data and voice recorders recovered from the bottom of the ocean showed the aircraft’s speed recorders had frozen during a storm. The search took almost two years.

2. EgyptAir 990

EgyptAir flight 990 was originally on a Los Angeles-New York City-Cairo route. Unfortunately, the plane suddenly crashed in the Atlantic Ocean on October 31, 1999, and killed 203 passengers and 14 cabin crew.

The cause of the plane crash is still being debated. One speculation is due to the actions of replacement co-pilot Gamal Al-Batouti who deliberately manipulated the aircraft controls, so the plane crashed. But according to Egyptian aviation authorities, the tragedy was caused by a tail rudder system jam on the plane.

3. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 carrying 239 people is one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries. The plane vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8th, 2014. Rescuers spent months scouring the seabed and the southern Indian Ocean but efforts eventually stood down.

4. Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571

Also known as Flight Andes, this chartered flight carrying 45 people including the rugby union team and their relatives and families crashed in the Andes Mountains of South America on October 13, 1972. More than a quarter of the passengers died and several others quickly succumbed to cold and injuries, while 16 survived.

The cause of the accident was allegedly due to bad weather which resulted in co-pilot Lagurara misreading flight instructions. He thought the plane had reached Curico when it was still far away. The plane, which had already descended, then crashed into the mountain.

5. Adam Air 547

This plane flew from Jakarta and then took a one-hour transit in Surabaya and ended up in Manado. It was supposed to arrive at Sam Ratulangi Airport at 4:14 pm in Central Indonesian Time on January 1, 2007. But the plane reportedly lost contact with the air traffic controller (ATC) of Makassar Hasanuddin Airport at 2:53 pm in Central Indonesian Time. But the plane never landed in Manado.

The black box was only found on the 25th day of the search in the waters of Majene, West Sulawesi. The incident claimed 102 lives consisting of 96 passengers and 6 crew members.

The National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT) stated that the cause of the accident was caused by bad weather, damage to the inertial navigation system aids, and pilot performance failure in dealing with emergencies. Until now, the location of Adam Air is still a mystery, only fragments of the fuselage continue to be found.