Delta Air Lines started flying back in 1929. And over nearly a century, it grew into a global aviation giant. But with millions of flights comes a natural question. Have any Delta flights crashed? The short answer is yes. Delta has experienced fatal accidents in its long history. Its worst crash happened in 1985 when Flight 191 went down in a severe storm at Dallas/Fort Worth, killing 136 people. Despite these tragic past events, aviation safety has transformed completely over the decades. Today, Delta is widely considered one of the safest airlines to fly with in the world. Here is a historical look at 7 Delta Air Lines deadly plane crashes that shaped modern aviation security.
1. Delta Air Lines Flight 4
Crash date: August 14, 1935
Total people onboard: 4
Survivors: 0
On August 14, 1935, Delta Air Lines Flight 4 was en route to Shreveport, Louisiana. A sudden propeller blade failure caused the left engine to break away from the Stinson Model A aircraft. The pilot tried to make an emergency landing in a Gilmer, Texas cotton field. However, he lost control, and the resulting crash killed all four people on board.
2. Delta Air Lines Flight 705
Crash date: March 10, 1948
Total people onboard: 13
Survivors: 1
On 10 March 1948, Delta Air Lines Flight 705, a Douglas DC-4 with the serial number 18390, crashed while taking off from Chicago Municipal Airport. There were a total of 13 people on board. Only one of them survived the crash. The accident, which happened during the initial climb, was linked to a loss of longitudinal controllability. However, what caused the loss of control remains unknown.
3. Delta Air Lines Flight 318
Crash date: May 17, 1953
Total people onboard: 20
Survivors: 1
On May 17, 1953, Delta Air Lines Flight 318, a Douglas DC-3, took off from Dallas Love Field in Dallas at 1:10 pm, bound for Atlanta. There were 3 crew and 17 passengers onboard the plane. While en route, air traffic control warned the pilots about possible thunderstorms. The pilots acknowledged the message. However, they refused to divert the plane to avoid the thunderstorm. Immediately after entering the storm, Flight 318 was met with lightning, hail, heavy rain, and high winds. The aircraft was eventually forced to the ground, hitting the treetops at a shallow angle of descent. At 2:16 pm, air traffic control radioed Flight 318 for a position update. However, they received no reply. They made further attempts to contact the flight but to no avail. At 2:28 pm, air traffic control learned that Flight 318 had crashed near Marshall, killing 16 of the 17 passengers on board. The lone survivor sustained major injuries.
4. Delta Air Lines Flight 9877
Crash date: March 30, 1967
Total people onboard: 6
Survivors: 0
Delta Air Lines Flight 9877, a Douglas DC-8-51, struck a residential area while conducting a simulated two-engine-out landing near New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, Louisiana, on March 30, 1967. All six people on board died in the accident. Additionally, the crash killed 13 people on the ground. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the accident was caused by a loss of control. The NTSB determined the loss of control stemmed from poor instructor supervision. Additionally, both the instructor and the captain-trainee misused the flight and power controls.
5. Delta Air Lines Flight 723
Crash date: July 31, 1973
Total people onboard: 89
Survivors: 1
On July 31, 1973, Delta Air Lines Flight 723, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31, took off from Burlington, Vermont, and was bound for Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. It was supposed to make an intermediate stop in Manchester, New Hampshire. However, at 11:08 a.m., the aircraft descended below the glidepath, struck a seawall about 165 feet (50 m) to the right of the extended runway centerline, and crashed. 89 of the 89 occupants aboard perished. One man survived with serious injuries. But unfortunately, he passed away more than four months later in the hospital.
6. Delta Air Lines Flight 191
Crash date: August 2, 1985
Total people onboard: 163
Survivors: 27
On August 2, 1985, Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar, was traveling from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Los Angeles, California, when it encountered a microburst while on approach to make an intermediate stop at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The plane impacted the ground just over one mile (1.6 km) short of the runway and struck a car. It then collided with two water tanks and disintegrated. There were a total of 163 occupants on board. Of those, 136 people died. 27 sustained injuries in the accident. Of the 27 survivors, 2 died more than a month after the accident. The driver of the car hit by the plane also perished.
7. Delta Air Lines Flight 1141
Crash date: August 31, 1988
Total people onboard: 108
Survivors: 94
On August 31, 1988, Delta Air Lines Flight 1141, a Boeing 727, carrying 108 people crashed shortly after takeoff from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The accident resulted in 14 deaths and 76 injuries. The crew's failure to configure the airplane's flaps or slats for takeoff reportedly caused the crash. The plane's takeoff warning system also failed to warn the pilots of the problem. What's more, the pilots were distracted from properly doing their jobs by improperly engaging in casual conversation on various matters unrelated to the operation of the flight, recordings from the cockpit voice recorder, which were broadcast repeatedly by the press, revealed. In fact, the recordings proved so embarrassing that a law was subsequently enacted, banning the release of cockpit voice recordings.
