List of people who died in aviation-related incidents

For people who check facts

This is a list of well-known people who have died in aviation-related tragedies. This list does not include the approximately three thousand people who died in the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack, nor the millions who have died from aerial bombardment during war.

This list is sectioned by occupation. For a list of aviation-related deaths by type of aircraft see a separate list of famous deaths by aircraft misadventure.

The year after the names of persons is the year of the aviation-related death. Within each section, people are listed in alphabetical order.

Table of contents

1 Aviation
2 Entertainment
3 Politicians
4 Royalty
5 Sports
6 Others

6.1 Kennedy family

Aviation

Bessie Coleman (1892-1926), first African-American woman pilot
Jessica Dubroff, young pilot
Eugene Ely, 1911
Guy Gibson, World War II pilot
Amy Johnson, British pilot
Juan de la Cierva, inventor of the autogyro, on a fixed-wing plane.
Edward O'Hare, World War II pilot
Harriet Quimby (1875-1912), first licensed female pilot in the United States

Entertainment

Aaliyah, 2001, actor and singer
The Big Bopper, 1959, singer
Guido Cantelli, orchestral conductor
Buddy Clark, singer
Patsy Cline, 1963, country music singer
Jim Croce, 1973, singer
Marcel Dadi, 1996, French musician on TWA Flight 800
John Denver, 1997, singer
Cassie Gaines, 1977, musician, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Steve Gaines, 1977, musician, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Carlos Gardel, 1935, Argentinian singer
William Gardner Knight, actor
Bill Graham, rock impresario
Keith Green, 1982, contemporary Christian musician
Buddy Holly, 1959, singer
Leslie Howard, 1943, actor
Pedro Infante, Mexican singer
Anna Jantar, 1980, Polish singer
Carole Lombard, 1942, actress
Glenn Miller, 1944, Big Band leader
Grace Moore, opera singer
Vic Morrow, actor
Audie Murphy, 1971, actor
Ricky Nelson, 1985, actor and singer
Otis Redding, 1967, singer
Lionel Poilane, French baker and entrepreneur
Jim Reeves, country music singer
Stan Rogers, Canadian singer
Will Rogers, 1935, actor, humorist, singer
Kyu Sakamoto, 1985, Japanese singer
Larry Shue, playwright
Graham "Shirley" Strahan, 2001, singer, Skyhooks
Frank Tallman III, stuntman
Melanie Thornton, singer
Mike Todd, producer
Ritchie Valens, 1959, singer
Ronnie VanZant, 1977, member of Lynyrd Skynyrd
Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1990, guitarist and singer

Politicians

Abdul Salam Arif, 1966, president of Iraq
GM Balayogi, 2002, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, India
RenÃÂ© Barrientos, 1969, president of Bolivia
Džemal Bijedić, 1977, premier of Yugoslavia
Barthelemy Boganda, 1959, president of the Central African Republic
Hale Boggs, 1972, U.S Congressman
Subhash Chandra Bose, 1945, leader of the Indian Congress
Ahmed Ould Bouceif, 1979, prime minister of Mauritania
Ron Brown, 1996, United States Secretary of Commerce with over 30 others in Croatia
Mel Carnahan, 2000, governor of Missouri
Igor Farkhutdinov, 2003, Russian politician, governor of Sakhalin
Sanjay Gandhi, 1980, son of Indira Gandhi
Dag HammarskjÃÂ¶ld, 1961, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Juvenal Habyarimana, 1994, president of Rwanda
Aleksandr Lebed, 2002, Russian politician, governor of Krasnoyarsk
Ernest Lundeen, Senator from Minnesota
Samora Machel, 1986, president of Mozambique
Ramon Magsaysay, 1957, president of the Philippines
Larry McDonald, U.S Congressman, 1983, aboard Korean Air Flight KAL-007
Carlos Menem Jr, 1995, first son of former Argentine president Carlos Menem.
George S. Mickelson, 1993, governor of South Dakota
Edward Moss, 1964, aide of senator Ted Kennedy, who was also injured during accident
Cyprien Ntaryamira, 1994, president of Burundi
Joel Rakotomalala, 1976, prime minister of Madagascar
Jaime RoldÃÂ³s, 1981, president of Ecuador
Francisco SÃÂ¡ Carneiro, 1980, prime minister of Portugal
Madhavrao Scindia, 2001, Indian politician
Wladyslaw Sikorski, 1943, Polish prime minister
Omar Torrijos, 1981, Panamanian dictator
John Tower, 1991, former Senator from Texas
Boris Trajkovski, 2004, president of the Republic of Macedonia
Paul Wellstone, 2002, Senator from Minnesota
Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, 1988, Pakistani president

Royalty

Sports

Davey Allison, 1993, NASCAR driver
Marcel Cerdan, 1949, French world boxing champion
Roberto Clemente, 1972, Puerto Rico baseball player
Hansie Cronje, 2002, disgraced South African cricketer
Carlos Cruz, 1970, Dominican world boxing champion
Graham Hill, 1975, motor racing driver
Nile Kinnick, 1943, American football player
Alan Kulwicki, 1993, NASCAR driver
Tony Lema, 1966, champion golfer
Twenty-three players, staff and associates of Manchester United football club, 1958
Marshall University football team, 1970
Rocky Marciano, 1969, former world boxing champion
Thurman Munson, 1979, baseball player
Ten people associated with Oklahoma State University men's basketball team (including two players), 2001
Rafael Osuna, Mexican tennis player
Most members of the Puerto Rican national women's volleyball team (on the same flight as Carlos Cruz)
Payne Stewart, 1999, champion golfer
Entire A.C. Torino soccer team, 1949
Nick Vanos, (1987) NBA player, Phoenix Suns
Entire US 1961 figure skating team
All members of the 1980 United States Olympic boxing team, except for Bobby Czyz, Marvis Frazier and Lee Roy Murphy on the same flight of Anna Jantar.
Entire Zambian national football team, 1993
Knute Rockne, 1937, Notre Dame football coach

Others

Roald Amundsen, explorer
Muhammad bin Laden, father of Osama bin Laden
Jake LaMotta, Jr, noted chef, son of Jake LaMotta
Lance Reventlow
Quentin Roosevelt, son of Theodore Roosevelt
Samantha Smith, young activist
Saint-Exupery, writer and pilot

Kennedy family

Caroline Bessette Kennedy, 1999, wife of John F. Kennedy Jr.
John F. Kennedy, Jr, 1999, son of John F. Kennedy
Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr, 1944, older brother of John F. Kennedy
Kathleen Agnes Kennedy Cavendish, 1948, younger sister of John F. Kennedy
Lauren Bessette, 1999, sister of Caroline and sister in law of John Jr.