| Date/Time |
Person |
Location |
Aircraft |
Details |
Notes |
Oct 5, 1930
02:09
|
Lord Thompson
British air minister |
Beauvais, France |
Airship
G-FAAW
R-101 |
The airship crashed into a hill after losing altitude in a rainstorm. Overweight and underpowered. Forty-eight out of 56 aboard killed. |
details in database |
Mar 31, 1931
c 10:45 |
Knute Rockne
43, Notre Dame football coach |
Bazaar, Kansas |
Trans Cont. & Western Airways
Flight 599
Fokker F-10A Tri-motor
NC999E cn:1063 |
One of the plane's wings separated in flight after penetrating a rainstorm and the aircraft crashed into a wheat field. A structural design flaw caused wing-aileron flutter which led to the wing separation. All 8 aboard killed. |
details in database |
| May 14, 1931 |
Denys Finch Hatton
43, professional hunter |
Voi, Kenya |
de Havilland Gypsy Moth |
Lifted off the ground, stalled and crashed. Hatton was the character played by Robert Redford in the movie Out of Africa. 2 killed |
|
Apr 4, 1933
00:30 |
Rear Admiral William Moffet
64, naval aviator |
Off Barnegat, New Jersey |
Goodyear-Zeppelin U.S.S. Akron (airship) |
Killed when the airship USS Akron crashed into the Atlantic after penetrating a thunderstorm. |
details in database |
Jul 17, 1933
00:36 |
Steponas Darius
Stasys Girėnas
Lithuanian- American aviators |
Kuhdamm, Germany |
Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker
NR688E |
Difficult weather conditions and engine defects caused the plane to crash while on a record setting flight. |
|
| June 24, 1934 |
Jimmie Wedell
34, Airplane designer and speed racer |
Patterson, Louisiana |
de Havilland Gypsy Moth
NC924M |
Wedell was at the controls of the plane. The crash was most likely due to structural failure. 2 killed. |
|
| May 6, 1935 |
Bronson M. Cutting
46, New Mexico Senator |
Macon, Missouri |
Transcontinental and Western Air
DC-2-112
NC13785 cn:1295 |
Crashed while attempting to make an emergency landing after running out of fuel. 4 out of 10 aboard killed. |
details in database |
Jun 24, 1935
14:36 |
Carlos Gardel
44, actor, singer |
Medellin, Colombia |
Servicio Aero Colombiano
Ford C-31 Tri-motor
C-31 cn:5-AT-112 |
Collision with another Tri-motor as it was taking off. Alfredo Le Pera, his lyricist, also killed. 17 of 20 aboard killed. |
details in database |
| Aug 15, 1935 |
Will Penn Adair Rogers
56, American humorist
Wiley Post
37, adventurer |
Walakpi, near Point Barrow Alaska |
Lockheed Orion Explorer
NR12283
cn:195 |
After making a forced landing in fog, the plane took off, rose about 50 feet and crashed into shallow water. 2 killed. |
details in database |
| Sep 17, 1935 |
Len Koenecke
31, baseball player
Dodgers, Giants |
Over Canada airspace |
Charter plane |
After being thrown off an American Airlines flight for being drunk, Koenecke boarded a charter flight. A fight broke out between the pilot, Koenecke and another passenger. After Koenecke grabbed for the controls, the pilot hit him over the head with a fire extinguisher killing him. |
|
Nov 8, 1935
02:50
|
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
38, Australian aviator. WW I ace. First to cross the Pacific from the US to Australia. |
Off the southern coast of Burma near Aye Island |
Lockheed Altair
VH-USB |
Disappeared off the coast of Burma while attempting an England to Australia speed record. Both Smith and his mechanic were killed. |
|
Dec 7, 1936
10:47 |
Jean Mermoz
35, French aviator |
Over the south Atlantic, off Dakar, Senegal |
Latecoere 300 ''Croix du Sud'' Tri-engine |
The last message from the aviator was "we have switched off the rear engine." The plane and crew of four were never found. |
|
| Dec 9, 1936 |
Juan de la Cierva
41, pioneer of rotary flight
Arvid Lindman
74, Prime Minister of Sweden |
Croydon, England |
KLM
Douglas DC-2
PH-AKL cn:1358 |
The aircraft crashed into houses while attempting to take off in heavy fog. All 16 aboard killed. |
details in database |
| Jan 12, 1937 |
Martin Johnson
52, explorer |
Saugus, California |
Western Air Express
Boeing 247
NC13315
cn:1696 |
Crashed into Stone mountain while attempting to land at Burbank Airport in fog and rain. Pilot error. Descended without knowing his position. 5 of 13 aboard killed. |
details in
database |
| Mar 22, 1937 |
Mary Du Caurroy Tribe Russell
71, Dutchess of Bedford |
Over the North Sea |
de Havilland Gypsy |
Disappeared over the North Sea on a solo flight. Her body was never found. 1 killed. |
|
| Jul 2, 1937 |
Amelia Earhart
40, aviator |
Off Lea, New Guinea |
Lockheed 10E Electra
NR16020
cn:N1055 |
Disappeared en route from Lae to Howland Island. Most likely ran out of fuel and ditched into the ocean. 2 killed. |
details in
database |
| Nov 16, 1937 |
Grand Duke Ernest Ludwig and Duchess Eleanore of Hesse
69, 66 |
Ostende, Belgium |
Sebena
Junkers 52/3m
OO-AUB cn:5827 |
The airliner crashed into a factory chimney on approach, in fog, after being diverted from Brussels to Ostende. All 11 aboard killed.
|
details in database |
| Jan 11, 1938 |
Captain Edwin Musick
44, Pan American's first pilot |
Pango Pango, U.S. Samoa |
Pan American Airways
Sikorsky S-42 seaplane
NC16734 cn:4207 |
Exploded in mid-air as the crew dumped fuel in preparation for an emergency landing. All 6 aboard killed. |
details in database |
| Aug 31, 1938 |
Frank Barnwell
58, Aircraft designer
|
Whitchurch, England |
Experimental |
Designed Bristol aircraft. He was a poor pilot and banned from flying any Bristol aircraft. He was killed while test flying his home built plane. 1 killed. |
|
| Oct 28, 1938 |
Ramón Franco
42, Spanish aviation pioneer |
Mallorca, Spain |
Cantz Z-506/73-1
Hydroplane |
Crashed killing all aboard, cause unknown. |
|
| Mar 18, 1939 |
Jack Kylstra
Boeing's chief engineer
A.G. von Baumhauer
Dutch helicopter designer |
Adler, Washington |
Boeing 307Stratoliner
NX19901
cn:1994 |
Crashed after the tail broke off of the aircraft. All 13 aboard killed. |
details in
database |