More than 650 deaths: Take a look at the timeline of NC plane crashes since 1983
Last month, eight people died when a small plane crashed into the ocean off the North Carolina coast near Beaufort.
The pilot and passengers — included four high school students — were returning from a weekend hunting trip, the Observer reported. An air traffic controller at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point was the first to report a possible crash on Feb. 13, when he saw an aircraft “behaving erratically on radar” just before it vanished completely, Coast Guard officials said.
Just days later, a Charlotte pilot died in a plane crash involving a fiery collision with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 85 in Davidson County.
Those nine people joined a sad tally of 654 people who died in plane crashes in North Carolina since 1983, according to a National Transportation Safety Board database.
The database lists records of 328 fatal plane crashes in N.C. since 1983, including two commercial airline crashes in Charlotte: a 2003 Air Midwest crash with 21 deaths and a 1994 USAir crash with 37 people killed.
The majority of fatal plane crashes in North Carolina involved crashes in small planes. Of the 328 fatal plane crashes recorded in NC since 1983, just eight resulted in more than five deaths.
In addition to the two commercial crashes in Charlotte, the database shows six small planes have crashed in the city since 1983:
▪ A December 2006 crash with four deaths
▪ A June 1999 crash with four deaths
▪ A December 1997 crash with one death
▪ A June 1985 crash with with two deaths
▪ A November 1983 crash with one death
Plane crashes in North Carolina
Here’s a timeline of some other crashes recorded in North Carolina since 1983:
Jan. 9, 1983: This crash in Cherry Point is the earliest recorded fatal plane crash in N.C. in the National Transportation Safety Board database. Seven people died.
The incident involved a mid-air crash between two aircrafts at about 9,500 feet — an Air Force fighter jet and a small plane flying from Nassau, Bahamas.
In total, 35 people died in plane crashes in North Carolina that year, according to the database.
Feb. 2, 1988: This crash in Cary broke the previous 1983 record (seven deaths) for reported deaths in a single N.C. plane crash. Twelve people died.
That plane, a Air Virginia flight, crashed into a reservoir shortly after taking off at Raleigh Durham International Airport.
In all, 35 people died in plane crashes in the state that year.
August 8, 1990: Two people — a father and his son — died in a crash in Huntersville. The small plane crashed into the tops of trees after a slow and shallow takeoff from a private grass airstrip, according to the safety board.
An Observer story from 1990 described the pilot as an experienced, careful flier. Witnesses told the paper the engine was still running after the crash before two explosions blew the aircraft apart.
In total, 16 people died in plane crashes in N.C. in 1990.
April 25, 1991: One person died in a plane crash in Kure Beach and another person was seriously injured, according to the database.
The pilot’s judgment was impaired by alcohol and the pilot misjudged the altitude of the plane over the water, according to the safety board.
Alcohol was cited as a factor in two other crashes in the safety board’s database: one in 1997 in Southern Pines and one in 1990 in Troy.
In total, 21 people died in plane crashes in the state in 1991. And there were 15 fatal plane crashes that year in N.C., the highest number of fatal crashes recorded in a single year in the database.
1994: This year was by far the deadliest for N.C. plane crashes in the database, with 71 deaths.
That includes the July 2, 1994 USAir flight 1016 crash that resulted in the deaths of 37 people.
The captain, first officers, three flight attendants and 15 passengers survived that crash after the plane collided with trees and a private residence near Charlotte Douglas International Airport, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
All occupants of the house were away at the time of the accident, the Observer reported at the time.
Also that year, 15 people died in an American Eagle crash in Morrisville — the third deadliest crash recorded in the safety board database.
May 5, 1999: Two people died in a crash near Kannapolis in a home-built amphibious aircraft.
One witness reported seeing the airplane land on Kannapolis Lake for about 30 minutes before taking off again, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. He saw the airplane stall and spin in the air and heard the crash soon after losing sight of the plane.
The pilot was under the impairment of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, according to the safety board.
In total, 10 people died in plane crashes in N.C. in 1999.
2003: This was the second deadliest year for NC plane crashes recorded in the database, with 37 total deaths.
That includes the Air Midwest crash of flight 5481 that killed 21 people. The plane crashed soon after takeoff at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
Two flight crew members and 19 passengers were killed, and one person on the ground was injured. The plane was destroyed by the impact and a fire following the crash.
Dec. 12, 2007: One person died in a crash of an amateur-built small plane in Huntersville.
The pilot purchased the plane about six months before the crash, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The board determined the probable cause of the accident was an inadvertent opening of the plane canopy — the enclosure over the cockpit — during takeoff.
According to the investigation, the canopy opened during takeoff and a piece of fabric flew out of the cockpit and into the plane’s wooden propeller. The plane crashed into trees and the ground.
In 2007, a total of 13 people died in plane crashes in N.C.
May 25, 2011: Four people died in a crash in Murphy after the pilot reported a fire on board while flying at 9,000 feet, according to the database.
There were no further recorded radio transmissions from the pilot. The plane crashed into a wooded area and some witnesses reported hearing an explosion.
A total of 14 people died in plane crashes in the state in 2011, according to the database.
Oct. 20, 2019: Two people were killed in a crash near Raleigh during a private nighttime flight.
The plane was flying to Raleigh Durham International Airport, but the pilot was having difficulty with his instruments and trouble seeing the airport’s runway at night.
The pilot did not have sufficient flight and night takeoff experience to fly alone with passengers, according to the safety board. The plane crashed in a state park just over a mile away from the runway.
In all, 20 people died in plane crashes in North Carolina in 2019, the highest total of plane crash deaths since the record number of deaths in 2003.
More plane crash data is available online at the National Transportation Safety Board website.
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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