By vehicle
-Aviation accidents
Aviation accidents and incidents
An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until all such persons have disembarked, where a person is fatally or seriously injured, the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure or the aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible. If the accident where the aircraft is destroyed or severely damaged so that it must be written off, it is further defined as a hull loss accident.
The first fatal aviation accident was the crash of a Rozière balloon near Wimereux, France, on June 15, 1785, killing its inventor Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier as well as the other occupant, Pierre Romain. The first involving a powered aircraft was the crash of a Wright Model A aircraft at Fort Myer, Virginia, USA, on September 17, 1908, injuring its co-inventor and pilot, Orville Wright, and killing the passenger, Signal Corps Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge.
Major disasters
Excluding the nearly 3,000 combined fatalities instigated by terrorists using four aircraft during the September 11 attacks, there have been 15 incidents with a death toll between 250 and 499 (passengers plus crew plus ground). Only two incidents have resulted in 500 or more fatalities each – the Tenerife two-aircraft disaster and the single-aircraft Japan Airlines Flight 123.[5] Excluding the nearly 3,000 combined fatalities instigated by terrorists using four aircraft during the September 11 attacks, there have been 15 incidents with a death toll between 250 and 499 (passengers plus crew plus ground). Only two incidents have resulted in 500 or more fatalities each – the Tenerife two-aircraft disaster and the single-aircraft Japan Airlines Flight 123.