Start with the reports
Every report in this archive comes from the investigating authority — accident investigation boards, safety agencies and official commissions. No summaries in place of the record: where a full report is public, you can download it here and read exactly what investigators found.
The archive is growing. New reports are added as they are obtained and verified, so check back — and if there is a report you are looking for, ask us.
Aviation Disasters
August 14, 2005 • Greece
Helios Airways Flight 522
A Boeing 737 climbed away from Cyprus with its pressurization set wrong. The crew and passengers lost consciousness, and the jet flew on alone for hours — a ghost flight — before it ran out of fuel and came down near Athens. All 121 people aboard died.
October 20, 1977 • Mississippi
1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash
Three days after the release of Street Survivors, the band's chartered Convair ran out of fuel over Mississippi and went down in the woods near Gillsburg. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines were among the six people killed.
October 25, 1999 • South Dakota
1999 Payne Stewart Plane Crash
A Learjet 35 lost cabin pressure minutes after takeoff from Orlando. With everyone aboard incapacitated, it flew on autopilot across the country, shadowed by Air Force jets, until it fell into a field in South Dakota. Golfer Payne Stewart was one of the six lost.
The Full Section
All Aviation Reports
Browse the complete aviation section — every crash report in the archive, with links to the official findings for each flight.
Other Disasters
June 1, 1974 • England
Flixborough Disaster
A temporary bypass pipe at the Nypro chemical plant ruptured and released a huge cloud of cyclohexane. The explosion that followed killed 28 people, injured dozens more and flattened the plant — and changed British industrial safety law for good.
Maritime Disasters
Maritime Reports
Now in the archive: the Titanic (1912) and the Costa Concordia (2012), with the official inquiry reports for both ships.
September 11, 2001
On the morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four American airliners. Nearly 3,000 people were killed. No official aircraft accident reports were ever released for the four flights — the definitive public record of the day is the 9/11 Commission Report, which you can download in full below.
8:46 AM • North Tower
American Airlines Flight 11
Boston to Los Angeles. The first plane hijacked, flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center between the 93rd and 99th floors. All 92 people aboard died; the tower fell at 10:28 AM.
9:03 AM • South Tower
United Airlines Flight 175
Boston to Los Angeles. Struck the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors, live on television. All 65 people aboard died; the tower fell at 9:59 AM.
9:37 AM • The Pentagon
American Airlines Flight 77
Washington Dulles to Los Angeles. Flown into the west face of the Pentagon. All 64 people aboard died, along with 125 people inside the building.
10:03 AM • Shanksville
United Airlines Flight 93
Newark to San Francisco. Warned by phone calls from the ground, the passengers fought back — "Let's roll" — and the plane went down in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, short of its target. All 44 aboard died.