The most fatalities in any aviation accident in history occurred during 1977 in the Tenerife airport disaster, when 583 people were killed when two Boeing 747s collided on a runway.
What is the scariest military plane? Meet the F-22 Raptor. It's the most dangerous combat plane in the world, designed for both air-to-air and air-to-ground conflict. 20 years later, the jet fighter's prowess is unmatched.
The F-22 has a low mission-capable rate, meaning it spends significant time on the ground undergoing maintenance. The F-35, on the other hand, has a higher mission-capable rate and is designed to be more accessible and less expensive to maintain than the F-22.
“The F-22 Raptors have arrived in the Northern Territory as part of the EAC Program,” said Air Vice-Marshal (AVM) Darren Goldie, Air Commander Australia.
"If you're looking to really dogfight, the F-22 wins in 5 seconds flat," he said. "But if it's about sensors and tracking, then the F-35 is going to look pretty good, especially if there are a lot of F-22s and you need to coordinate with other sensors." Lockheed shares rose 2.6% to 235.86 on the stock market today.
The XF-84H was almost certainly the loudest aircraft ever built, earning the nickname "Thunderscreech" as well as the "Mighty Ear Banger". On the ground "run ups", the prototypes could reportedly be heard 25 miles (40 km) away.
F-15 Eagle is still one of the most dangerous jets around
The F-15 is a legend. The F-15 Eagle and its variants are some of the most capable jet fighters ever. McDonnell Douglas created and produced it primarily as an air superiority tactical fighter. The Eagle is one of the most successful fighters of the modern era.
The "Doomsday Planes", otherwise known as the "Nightwatch" aircraft, or more accurately the Boeing E-4B "Advanced Airborne Command Post" (AACP), a militarized version of the Boeing 747-200, are strategic command and control military aircraft flown by the United States Air Force (USAF).
19/20 January 1991: F-15E-46-MC, 88‑1692, c/n 1101/E076, of the 336th FS, 4th TFW, USAF, was shot down by an Iraqi SA-2E missile during Operation Desert Storm. Both crew members ejected and were POWs.
Lufthansa Flight 540 was the first fatal crash of a 747. On November 20, 1974, it stalled and crashed moments after taking off from Nairobi, with 59 deaths and 98 survivors. The cause was an error by the flight engineer in combination with a lack of a sufficient warning system.
Regarding an aviation accident, a "ghost plane" or "ghost flight" occurs when the plane, already in the air, suffers some type of accident that has incapacitated the crew and passengers but continues to fly until it runs out of fuel and crashes.
And while the plane features a private residence, meeting rooms, a medical facility, and Secret Service agents, there are no weapons onboard. With an essential role of transporting US officials, let's look at how the Boeing VC-25 can thwart any attack despite being unarmed.
On March 28, 1961, the newly inaugurated President John F. Kennedy canceled the program. Proposals for nuclear-powered airplanes have popped up since then, but the fear of radiation and the lack of funding have kept all such ideas down. The Air Force still maintains its affinity for older pilots.
1. The McDonnell-Douglas F-15 Eagle A U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagle, assigned to the 104th Fighter Wing, takes off June 3, 2022, at Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts. Update: This post has been updated to clarify that no F-15 Eagle has been shot down in air-to-air combat.
The Embraer ERJ series has had more than 1,200 units built, and few hull losses since entering service in April 1997. Therefore, the ERJ135/140/145 members of the family are among the safest airliners in history.
The F-22 fleet, which now numbers 182 aircraft, has experienced 32 “Class A” mishaps and 50 “Class B” accidents over the past 21 years. A Class A accident involves a fatality, loss of the aircraft, or more than $2.5 million in damage.
Supersonic aircraft have been used for research and military purposes, but only two supersonic aircraft, the Tupolev Tu-144 (first flown on December 31, 1968) and the Concorde (first flown on March 2, 1969), ever entered service for civil use as airliners.
It is also quiet. The A380 is regarded as having the quietest cabin environment amongst modern widebody commercial aircraft. The website tinitustalk.com pulled research figures together for several widebody aircraft – with the A380 coming in lowest at 69.5 dB.
Research found that the noise experienced in window seats was four decibels higher than the middle and aisle seats. Meanwhile, at the back of the aircraft, there is a lot of low frequency noise, says Kochan.
In air-to-air combat, the F-22 has a spotless record — just not against fighter aircraft. In two separate incidents in February 2023, Raptors shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina as well as an “unidentified object” over Alaska.
The Air Force proposed retiring the training F-22s in its fiscal year 2024 budget request because they no longer accurately represent the frontline Block 35, which is the combat-coded and -configured version of the fighter.
The F-22 cannot be matched by any known or projected fighter aircraft. A combination of sensor capability, integrated avionics, situational awareness, and weapons provides first-kill opportunity against threats.
They've been called Angels of Death: AC-130 gunships. The heavily armed stuff of nightmares for adversaries and the close-air support guardian angels of allies.