HISTORY IN THE NEWS:
DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.
TIMELINE FOR RAIL AND AIR ACCIDENTS, 1831-2013
Thanks to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-10785301
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001450.html and http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/apr/10/worlds-worst-air-disasters-timeline
- 1831 June 17, nr. Charleston, S.C.: boiler exploded on America's first passenger locomotive, The Best Friend of Charleston, injuring the fireman and the engineer.
- 1833 Nov. 8, nr. Heightstown, N.J.: world's first train wreck and first passenger fatalities recorded. A 24-passenger Camden & Amboy train derailed due to a broken axle, killing 2 passengers and injuring all others. Former president John Quincy Adams and Cornelius Vanderbilt, who later made a fortune in railroads, were aboard.
- 1853 May 6, Norwalk, Conn.: New Haven Railroad train ran through an open drawbridge and plunged into the Norwalk River. 46 passengers were crushed to death or drowned. This was the first major drawbridge accident.
- 1856 July 17, Camp Hill, nr. Ft. Washington, Pa.: 2 Northern Penn trains crashed head-on. Approximately 50–60 people died, mostly children on their way to a Sunday school picnic.
- 1876 Dec. 29, Ashtabula, Ohio: Lake Shore train fell into the Ashtabula River when the bridge it was crossing collapsedduring a snowstorm; 92 people were killed.
- 1887 Aug. 10, nr. Chatsworth, Ill.: a burning railroad trestle collapsed while a Toledo, Peoria & Western train was crossing, killing 81 and injuring 372.
- 1904 Aug. 7, Eden, Colo.: train derailed on bridge during flash flood; 96 killed.
- 1910 March 1, Wellington, Wash.: 2 trains swept into canyon by avalanche; 96 dead.
- 1915 May 22, Quintinshill, Scotland: 2 passenger trains and troop train collided at Quintinshill near Gretna Green; 227 killed.
- 1917 Dec. 12, Modane, France: nearly 550 killed in derailment of troop train near mouth of Mt. Cenis tunnel.
- 1918 July 9, Nashville, Tenn.: 101 killed in a 2-train collision near Nashville.
- Nov. 1, New York City: derailment of subway train in Malbone St. tunnel in Brooklyn left 92 dead.
- 1926 March 14, Virilla River Canyon, Costa Rica: an overcrowded train carrying pilgrims derailed while crossing the Colima Bridge, killing over 300 people and injuring hundreds more.
- 1939 Dec. 22, nr. Magdeburg, Germany: more than 125 killed in collision; 99 killed in another wreck near Friedrichshafen.
- 1943 Dec. 16, nr. Rennert, N.C.: 72 killed in derailment and collision of 2 Atlantic Coast Line trains.
- 1944 March 2, nr. Salerno, Italy: 521 suffocated when Italian train stalled in tunnel.
- 1949 Oct. 22, nr. Nowy Dwor, Poland: more than 200 reported killed in derailment of Danzig-Warsaw express.
- 1950 Nov. 22, Richmond Hill, N.Y.: 79 died when one Long Island Railroad commuter train crashed into rear of another.
- 1951 Feb. 6, Woodbridge, N.J.: 85 died when Pennsylvania Railroad commuter train plunged through temporary overpass.
- 1952 Oct. 8, Harrow-Wealdstone, England: 2 express trains crashed into commuter train; 112 dead.
- 1957 Sept. 1, nr. Kendal, Jamaica: about 175 killed when train plunged into ravine.
- Sept. 29, nr. Montgomery, West Pakistan: express train crashed into standing oil train; nearly 300 killed.
- Dec. 4, St. John's, England: 92 killed and 187 injured as one commuter train crashed into another in fog.
- 1960 Nov. 14, Pardubice, Czechoslovakia: 2 trains collided; 110 dead, 106 injured.
- 1962 May 3, nr. Tokyo: 163 killed and 400 injured when train crashed into wreckage of collision between inbound freight train and outbound commuter train.
- 1963 Nov. 9, nr. Yokohama, Japan: 2 passenger trains crashed into derailed freight train, killing 162.
- 1964 July 26, Custoias, Portugal: passenger train derailed; 94 dead.
- 1970- Feb. 4, nr. Buenos Aires: 236 killed when express train crashed into standing commuter train.
1972- Oct. 6, nr. Saltillo, Mexico: train carrying religious pilgrims derailed and caught fire, killing 204 and injuring over 1,000.
1974:- March- A Turkish Airlines flight crashes near Paris after a rear cargo door that had not been closed properly blows out. All 346 people on board are killed.
1974 Oct. 30, Chicago: 2 Illinois Central commuter trains collided during morning rush hour; 45 dead and over 200 injured.
1974- Aug. 30, Zagreb, Yugoslavia: train entering station derailed, killing 153 and injuring over 60.
1977- March: Two Boeing 747s collide on a foggy runway in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people.
- 1978: Jan: An Air India 747 crashes into the ocean after takeoff from Mumbai, killing all 190 passengers and 23 crew. The disaster is believed to have been caused when the pilot became disoriented by the failure of the flight instruments.
- 1979- May: An American Airlines DC-10 crashes after take off from Chicago's O'Hare airport. The left engine falls off the plane, severing critical control lines and a wing, making a successful return to the airport nearly impossible. A total of 275 people are killed.
- 1980- August : A Saudi Tristar makes an emergency landing in Riyadh and bursts into flames, killing 301 passengers.
- 1981- June 6, nr. Mansi, India: driver of train carrying over 500 passengers braked to avoid hitting a cow, causing train to plunge off a bridge into the Baghmati River; 268 passengers were reported killed, but at least 300 more were missing.
1983- November: A Boeing 747 jumbo jet travelling from Paris to Madrid crashes about five miles east of Madrid's Barajas airport, killing 181.
1985- August: A Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 crashes into a mountain after losing part of its tail fin. With a death toll of 520, it is the world's worst single-plane disaster.
1988- December: A terrorist bomb explodes on board Pan Am flight 103, destroying the aircraft over the Scottish town of Lockerbie and killing 270 people.
- 1993- Sept. 22, nr. Mobile, Ala.: Amtrak's Sunset Limited, en route to Miami, jumped rails on weakened bridge and plunged into Big Bayou Canot, killing 47 people.
2000:-July- An Air France Concorde, headed for New York, crashes into a hotel
outside Paris shortly after takeoff. The death toll is 113, including four people who were on the ground.
June 24, nr. Msagali, central Tanzania: runaway passenger train collided with freight train on same track, leaving 200 dead.
2004 Feb. 18, Neishabour, Iran: runaway rail cars, loaded with fertilizer, petrol, and sulfur products, rolled 31 mi down the rails, caught fire, and exploded, killing more than 320 and devastating 5 villages.
April 22, Ryongchon, North Korea: 2 trains carrying flammable liquids collided, causing a huge explosion near the Chinese border, killing at least 161 and injuring more than 1,300.
2005, Aug: A Helios Airways flight from Cyprus to Prague, carrying 121 people, crashes north of Marathon and Varnavas, in Greece, after the cabin pressure falls. All on board are killed.
2005: Dec- At least 116 people are killed when an Iranian military plane crashes into a block of flats in Tehran.
- 2007 Aug. 1, Benaleka, Congo: a passenger train running between Ilebo and Kananga derailed after the brakes failed, killing about 100 people.
- Dec. 19, Mehrabpurp, Pakistan: a crowded passenger train derailed, killing at least 45 people and injuring over 100 more.
- 2008: Jan- A Polish Casa military transport plane crashes in the north-west of the country, killing 20 people, many of whom were officials who had attended an air safety conference.
- 2008 April 28, China: a passenger train running from Beijing to Qingdao city derailed, killing 70 people and injuring more than 400 others.
- Aug. 8, Czech Republic: a passenger train running from Krakow to Prague crashed into a collapsed bridge, killing six people and injuring about 100 others.
- Sept. 12, California: a metrolink commuter train collided with a freight train northwest of Los Angeles, killing 25 passengers.
- 2010 March 29, Russia: thirty-eight people are killed after two female suicide bombers enter the Moscow Metro.
- 2010: April- A Tupolev 154 crashes in dense fog while trying to reach Smolensk airport in Russia, killing 96 people – including the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski.
- 2010- May 28, India: a passenger train derails in West Bengal to avoid damage on the railway track hits an oncoming train filled with goods and 148 people are killed.
2010: May- An Air India Boeing 737-800 crashes after overshooting the runway at Bajpe airport near Mangalore in southern India, leaving 158 dead.
2012- May 28- 2010 — India — A train derails in the West Midnapore district of West Bengal, India, caused by either sabotage or a bomb that damaged the railway track, and is struck by an oncoming goods train, resulting in 148 passenger deaths (Wikipedia)
2010- June 22,— Republic of the Congo — A passenger train derails between Bilinga and Tchitondi, about 60 km (37 mi) from Pointe-Noire. At least 76 people die, more are injured (Wikipedia)
September 20, 2010 — India — 34 die and over 160 are injured when a speeding freight going towards Indore, Madhya Pradesh rear-ends a stationary Indore – Gwalior Intercity Express at Badarwas, Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh. The locomotive of the Intercity Express remained on the same place and the coaches behind it jumped over it. Preliminary reports indicate that the freight, traveling at 95 km/h (59 mph), overshot the signal and the pointsman was unable to divide the loop line from the main line, putting the freight on the same line where the Intercity train was standing. (Wikipedia)
2011- 9 January: An IranAir Boeing 727 breaks into pieces near the city of Orumiyeh, killing 77 of the 100 people on board. The pilots had reported a technical failure before trying to land.
- 2011- 20 June: A Tupolev Tu-134 operated by RusAir, a private Russian airline, crashes on the approach to Petrozavodsk airport in the northern republic of Karelia, killing 44 of the 52 people on board.
- 2011- 8 July: A Hewa Bora Airways plane crash-lands in bad weather in Democratic Republic of Congo, killing 74 of the 118 people on board.
- 2011 July 23, China: known as the Wenzhou train collision, due to a signal failure, a high-speed train rear-ends a stopped high-speed train. The collision happens near Whenzhou in the province of Zhejiang. Forty people are killed and 192 are injured.
- 2011- 20 June: A Tupolev Tu-134 operated by RusAir, a private Russian airline, crashes on the approach to Petrozavodsk airport in the northern republic of Karelia, killing 44 of the 52 people on board.
- 2011- 26 July: Some 78 people are killed when a Moroccan military C-130 Hercules crashes into a mountain near Guelmim in Morocco. Officials blamed bad weather.
2012- March 3, — Poland — Szczekociny rail crash – Two passenger trains derail in a head-on collision near Szczekociny. 16 people die and 58 are injured
2012- 2 April: At least 31 people are killed when a Russian passenger plane crashes shortly after take-off in Siberia.
20 April: A Bhoja Air Boeing 737 crashes on its approach to the main airport in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, killing all 121 passengers and six crew.
2012- May 22,— India — Penukonda train collision – In the early hours of May 22, 2012, the Bangalore bound Hampi Express crashed into a stationary freight train near Penukonda, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The incident killed 25 people while 43 people were said to be injured
2012- 3 June: A Dana Air passenger plane with about 150 people on board crashes in a densely populated area of Nigeria's largest city, Lagos
2012- July 13, — South Africa — Hectorspruit level crossing accident – A goods train hauling coal from Witbank to Maputo smashes into a truck carrying 44 farm workers at a controlled level crossing near Hectorspruit, Mpumalanga, killing 26 people (Wikipedia)
- 2012- 19 August: A Sudanese aircraft crashes in the Juba Mountains, killing all 32 people on board including the country's religious affairs minister, junior ministers and leader of the Justice Party.
- 2012- Nov. 9- — Burma — 2012 Burma train crash – A train carrying liquid fuel and traveling from central Mandalay to Myitkyina in the north crashes and bursts into flames near Kantbalu in central Burma; at least 27 people die and more than 80 are injured (Wikipedia)
- 2012 Nov. 17, Egypt: a train collides with a school bus near Manfalut and at least 50 children and the school bus driver are killed. More than a dozen people are injured.
- 2013- Jan 15- Egypt — Badrashin railway accident — A passenger train derails at Giza and collides with a freight train. 19 people die, 120 are injured.
- 2013 July 6, Lac-Mégantic, Quebec: an unattended runaway train carrying crude oil derails and explodes. Fifty people are missing and presumed dead. Thirty buildings were destroyed. The engineer had left the train to take a break, engaging the breaks before he left.
