The authoritative record of civil air disasters worldwide. Flying as an airline passenger is, statistically, one of the safest forms of travel. Even so, the history of civil aviation is littered with high-profile disasters involving major loss of life. This new edition of the authoritative work on the subject brings the grim but important story of air disasters right up to date. David Gero assembles a list of major air disasters since the 1950s across continents. He investigates every type of calamity, including those caused by appalling weather, mechanical failure, pilot error, inhospitable terrain and hostile action. 'Aviation Disasters' is the authoritative record of air disasters worldwide. AUTHOR: David Gero has always had a keen interest in aeronautics, starting his collection of air disaster reports at the age of thirteen. Since then he has gathered information on many thousands of incidents, involving all kinds of aircraft and from many different countries. SELLING POINTS: . Updated sixth edition bringing the story up to date . Fully illustrated with a fascinating selection of photographs and charts . Author is a recognised expert in the field . Includes the first incident of sabotage involving a commercial liner, and the first much-feared crash of the jumbo jet era . Features, alongside less well-known cases, the Pan American Flight 103 at Lockerbie in 1988 and the twin Towers tragedy on 11 September 2001 170 b/w and 15 colour illustrations