This day in history: On Dec. 8, 1945, "a C-47 military transport plane destined for Seattle tried an emergency landing at Logan International Airport. The pilot was unable to make the runway on second pass and crashed into a field near the area that is now Veterans Park. Nineteen of the 23 people on board perished, including 17 servicemen who were on their last leg of deployment, heading home after serving in Europe during World War II." Source
Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, was struck by lightning on this day in 1963 and crashed near Elkton, Maryland, killing all 81 people on board.
On December 8, 1969, Olympic Airways Flight 954 struck a mountain outside of Keratea, Greece, killing 90 people in the worst crash of a Douglas DC-6 in history.
On December 8, 1972, United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashed after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45. This is the first-ever loss of a Boeing 737.
On December 8. 1988, a United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II crashed into an apartment complex in Remscheid, Germany, killing 5 people and injuring 50 others.
On December 8 2005, Southwest Airlines Flight 1248, a Boeing 737-700, slid off the runway during landing at Chicago Midway International Airport in Chicago in heavy snow. None of the people on board are injured, but the plane hit two automobiles on the ground, killing a passenger.
On December 8 2014, an Embraer EMB-500 airplane crashed while on approach to runway 14 at Montgomery County Airpark (GAI), Gaithersburg, Maryland. "The airplane impacted three houses and the ground about 3/4 mile from the approach end of the runway. A postcrash fire involving the airplane and one of the three houses, which contained three occupants, ensued. The pilot, the two passengers, and the three people in the house died as a result of the accident." Source
However, despite the above, air travel is quite safe, much safer than dricing your car. "Dr. Barnett of MIT compared the chance of dying from an airline accident versus a driving accident, after accounting for the greater number of people who drive each day. Can you guess what he found? You are nineteen times safer in a plane than in a car. Every single time you step on a plane, no matter how many times you fly, you are nineteen times less likely to die than in your car." Source
In fact, every year, roughly 1.3 million people die in car accidents worldwide – an average of 3,287 deaths per day.
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