Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908 [Hardcover]

David Gero (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1999

Investigates the huge number of military aircraft crashes that occur each year but which rarely make the news. This reference work examines all significant losses worldwide from 1908 to the present day.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Each year dozens of military aircraft come to grief, ranging from fighters and bombers to trainers and transports. David Gero covers major military disasters worldwide and gives full details of the aircraft involved, its operator, route, location of crash, loss of life, and where known the reason for the crash. The author has undertaken considerable detective work to piece together details of many of the incidents recorded here. In this revised and updated second edition, he has investigated significant military aircraft disasters from 1999 to 2008, including the conflicts in Bosnia, the Second Gulf War and Afghanistan.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

David Gero is a television producer and lifelong student of aeronautical accidents. His other books include Aviation Disasters and Flights of Terror.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Haynes Publications (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185260574X
• ISBN-13: 978-1852605742
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,659,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing History, April 23, 2005

By 

Lynellen Perry "lynellenDOTcom" (Dumfries, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908 (Hardcover)

Ever wonder about not wanting to fly because you're afraid of crashing into a mountain? After browsing "Military Aviation Disasters", you won't wonder any more. This book documents dozens and dozens of military planes crashing into mountains even in the "modern" age of flight technology. One can only imagine how many more civilian aviation planes have crashed into mountains during the history of flight.

David Gero defines a "Significant Loss" as those incidents where at least 20 people lost their lives, but also includes in this volume a few other incidents that were "particularly noteworthy." You'll find military accidents from countries all over the world included.

I bought this book because I'm a fan of the Lockheed Orion P-3 aircraft, and there are three P-3 incidents described here. I found it amazing how many years the military persued the use of blimps in the early 1900s despite horrific accidents occuring on a regular basis. Also included is the 1972 crash of the airplane carrying the Uruguayan rugby team over the Andes Mountains where the survivors committed canibalism (which has been made famous by a movie).

Each incident described has the date, approximate time, location, aircraft type, and the operator of the aircraft. The text of the incident describes the weather conditions and the apparent cause of the incident (when that information has been released). Almost every two-page spread has at least one photo or diagram.

--lynellen.com

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable but incomplete, June 3, 2001

By 

T. Farrier (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908 (Hardcover)

Gero has done the aviation safety community a great service by putting out this book. Students of the subject would be well advised to read it cover to cover. The most noteworthy content is the peek behind the veil at former Soviet accidents (which may have been the impetus for the writing of the book in the first place).

Where Gero falls short is in his failure to mention a number of well-documented, high-profile accidents with significant implications to public safety. For example, the June 1995 crash of a B-52 at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington made international news, but is not discussed in this book. A 2002 update of both this book and his equally readable "Air Disasters", perhaps combined in a single volume, would be welcome to both add to the current content and bring attention to the final rulings on a number of high-profile accidents that occurred in the late 1990s.