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The article describes the scene prior to Concorde's take-off and its fatal crash landing on an hotel. Concerns about the plane's vulnerability are discussed.

The crash of a hijacked Ethiopian airliner in Nov. 1996, has highlighted the random and the arbitrary in that some passengers survived while more than 100 did not. Lindsay Davis, who survived a fire on a Boeing 737 that killed 55 people in 1985, feels that it was simply not her turn to die on that day. Some 60% of all fatalities occur in aircraft accidents in which there are no survivors. The chances of survival in the remaining crashes are currently about 50-50, with young males with considerable experience of flying being the most likely to survive.

The abrupt disappearance of Air France Flight 447 over the Atlantic Ocean while on route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on Monday has raised questions about what could have happened. The plane's computer alerted the maintenance unit at Air France about electrical problems, but no communication was received from the pilots of the jetliner, even though the aircraft had emergency power systems.

The death of the American soul singer Aaliyah Haughton in a plane crash is examined in detail. Her plane was carrying over twice the maximum recommended weight.

Concorde will be abandoned if it is found that the crash was caused by the aircraft's design or the way it flies. The public has already lost confidence in Concorde and it may be grounded within a couple of years.

The aeroplane carrying the Greek Alternate Foreign Minister, his son and other political figures fell suddenly from 23,000 feet to 4,000 feet. Six passengers, including the Alternate Foreign Minister and his son, were dead. The other passengers were badly hurt and only a few could walk. One who survived, journalist Alfonso Vitalis, was saved because he was wearing his seatbelt. He says that there was a loud bang and the plane started to lose altitude. The interior of the plane started to break up and when they landed it was full of debris and bodies.

John F. Kennedy Jr and his wife were going to a wedding, his broken ankle was better and he enjoyed the freedom of flying. However, the flight was to be mostly in darkness, the weather report was bad and Kennedy was an inexperienced pilot. Kennedy is reported to have been reluctant to fly but his wife insisted. It is likely that Kennedy became disorientated in the haze and did not believe what his instrument panel was telling him. This is known as 'black hole vertigo' and pilots have to trust their instruments if they are to survive. Kennedy did not manage to do this.

Visibility was poor when John F. Kennedy Jr. took off in his Piper Saratoga II HP for a short trip to the island of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts on Jul. 16, 1999, and he was not a very experienced pilot. Kennedy had logged less than 200 flying hours since gaining his pilot's licence on Apr. 22, 1998, had yet to qualify to fly on aircraft instruments alone, and had only had his Saratoga since Apr. 1999. Kennedy, his wife and her sister had taken off without incident but their aircraft disappeared during the trip and debris was found in the sea on Jul. 17, 1999.