Aviation Case Studies

UPS Flight 2976 departed Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on November 4, 2025, bound for Honolulu, Hawaii. Shortly after takeoff, the Boeing MD-11 suffered a catastrophic separation of its left engine and pylon assembly, causing the aircraft, which was carrying approximately 38,000 gallons of jet fuel, to crash into an industrial area near the airport. The impact and resulting explosion killed 15 people aboard and on the ground, injured at least 23 others, and destroyed…

COMAIR FLIGHT 5191   Crashed on Runway: August 27, 2006 In Lexington, Kentucky  Air traffic control violations led to an avoidable tragic event that resulted in the deaths of 47 passengers and two crew members. Clifford Law Offices represented five families of crash victims, including the only Canadian passenger on board.  The sun hadn’t come up in Lexington, Kentucky, as Comair Flight 5191 started heading down the taxiway and onto the runway at Blue Grass Airport….

What should have been a routine Newark-to-Buffalo flight ended in tragedy as the Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 crashed into a house, killing all 49 people on board and a man on the ground as it approached Buffalo, New York, on February 12, 2009. National Transportation Safety Board hearings revealed numerous mistakes made by inexperienced, fatigued pilots and an aircraft that should have been better equipped. Clifford Law Offices represented a number of families who lost loved…

TURKISH AIRLINES FLIGHT 1951 Crashed short of runway: February 25, 2009, In Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands On February 25, 2009, Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 was en route from Istanbul, Turkey, to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 127 passengers – four of whom were U.S. citizens – and seven crew members, including three pilots. The seemingly ordinary journey was uneventful until the aircraft descended for landing on Runway 18R. At approximately 1,950…

ALASKA AIR FLIGHT 261 Crashed: January 31, 2000 in the Pacific Ocean On January 31, 2000, an Alaska Airlines MD-83 aircraft in flight to San Francisco plummeted from the sky and crashed into the Pacific Ocean, killing all 88 people on board. The tragic event raised serious questions surrounding the safety of one of America’s largest airlines at the time and left devastated families wondering what went so wrong. Most of those aboard the jet…

AMERICAN EAGLE FLIGHT 4184 Crashed: October 31, 1994, in Roselawn, Indiana On October 31, 1994, American Eagle Flight 4184 was en route from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Chicago, Illinois when it abruptly rolled and plummeted from the sky, crashing in a field near Roselawn, Indiana, killing all 68 on board. In the following investigation, it was determined that an inattentive flight crew and a poorly designed de-icing boot system caused the American Airlines plane to crash…

UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 232 Crashed: July 19, 1989 in Sioux City, Iowa The eyes of the nation watched as a home video fixed on Runway 2L at Sioux City, Iowa’s airport captured the chilling crash scene. Again and again, television stations aired the clip of the immense jetliner, United Airlines Flight 232, cartwheeling in flames before crash-landing in a soybean field. Passengers were thrown from the plane; 112 were killed in the deadly impact. Another…