| Date/Time | Name / Group | Age | Notability | Accident Location | Aircraft | Circumstances | Photos |
| Sep 17, 1908 17:18 |
Thomas Selffield |
26 | First person to be killed in a powered aircraft in recorded aviation history. | Fort Myer, Virginia | Wright Flyer III Model A |
During a demonstration flight, a U.S. Army flyer flown by Orville Wright nose-dived into the ground from a height of approximately 75 feet, killing Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge who was a passenger. One of two propellers separated in flight, tearing loose the wires bracing the rudder and causing the loss of control of the aircraft. Orville Wright suffered broken ribs, pelvis and a leg. Selfridge suffered a crushed skull and died a short time later. | |
| Jan 4, 1910 | Ferdinand Léon Délagrange |
36 | French aviation pioneer | Pau, France | Blériot XI Monoplane | Was killed when the left wing to his plane collapsed. This was caused by fitting too powerful of a motor to his plane. One fatality. | |
| Jul 12, 1910 | Charles Stewart Rolls |
33 | Co-founder of Rolls Royce Motors | Bournemouth, England | Wright Flyer | His biplane broke-up in mid air. Although falling only 20 feet, he was killed when he cracked his skull. Failure of the tail structure. Britain's first aviation accident fatality. | PHOTO |
| Sep 27, 1910 | Jorge Chavez |
23 | Peruvian aviator, first person to fly over the alps | Milan, Italy | Bleriot | Crash landed his plane at Milan while attempting to fly over the alps from Brigue to Milan. He died of his injuries four days later. | PHOTO |
| Jan 9, 1911 | Edvard Rusjan |
25 | Slovenian aviation pioneer and airplane constructor | Belgrade, Serbia | EDA V | Strong winds broke off a wing resulting in the plane crashing into a railway embankment. | PHOTO |
| Oct 19, 1911 | Eugene Burton Ely |
24 | U.S. naval aviator. First to land an airplane on a ship. | Macon, Georgia | Wright Flyer | Crashed during a demonstration flight at the Georgia State Fair. | PHOTO |
| Apr 3, 1912 | Calbraith Perry Rodgers |
33 | U.S. aviator, first to make a transcontinental flight | Long Beach, California | Wright "Vin Fiz" Flyer | Crashed into the Pacific during an air show after hitting a seagull which fouled his controls. He died of a broken neck. First person to die from a bird strike. | PHOTO |
| Jul 1, 1912 | Harrriet Quimby |
37 | American pioneer female aviator | Dorchester, Massachusetts | Blériot Monoplane | Quimbly was killed when she was hurled out of the plane as the aircraft suddenly pitched forward during an air show demonstration. A friend, William Willard, was also killed. | PHOTO |
| Aug 7, 1913 | Samuel Cody William Evans |
46 30 |
Aviation pioneer English cricketeer Wild West showman |
Farnsborough, England | Cody float plane | While out for a joyride in his floatplane, which he designed, broke up at 500 ft and he and his passenger William Evans were both killed. | PHOTO |
| Sep 13, 1913 | Aurel Vlaicu | 30 | Romanian airplane designer | Câmpina, Romania | Vlaicu II | Killed while attempting to cross the Carpathian Mountains. | PHOTO |
| Mar 14, 1915 | Lincoln Beachey |
28 | American aviation pioneer | San Francisco, California | Taube monoplane | Died after crashing into San Francisco Bay after the wings tore off his plane while attempting to perform a stunt during an exhibition flight at the Panama Pacific International Exposition. | PHOTO |
| Feb 15, 1918 | Vernon Castle |
33 | Ballroom dancer | Benbrook, Texas | American flyer | Castle was killed during a training mission. He was thrown out of the plane and fell 45 feet after maneuvering to avoid a collision with another plane. He was a pilot during WWI. | PHOTO |
| Apr 21, 1918 | Manfred von Richtofen "The Red Baron" |
25 | Famous German WWI flying ace | Somme Canal, France | Fokker Triplane | Killed during a WWI air battle. Canadian pilot Captain Roy Brown was originally credited with shooting down Richthofen, but some accounts credit Australian forces on the ground. | PHOTO |