History: Aviation accidents and incidents

The Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 defines the aviation accident as an occurrence that is associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until all such persons have disembarked, where a person is fatally or seriously injured, the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure or the aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible. Furthermore if the aircraft is destroyed or severely damaged so that it must be written of, it is further defined as a hull loss accident.

An aviation incident is an occurrence, other then an accident, associated wiht the operation of an aircraft which affects or could affect the safety of operation.

History of aviation accidents

The crash of a Rozière balloon near Wimereux, France on 15 June 1785 is considered to be the first fatal aviation accident. The inventor of the balloon Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and one other occupant named Pierre Romain were both killed in this accident.

The first accident involving a powered aircraft was the crash of a Wright Model A aircraft at Fort Myer, Virginia, USA on 17 September 1908. This accident resulted in the injuring of the co-inventor and pilot Orville Wright and the death of the passenger Signal Corps Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge.