A Brief History
On August 16, 1927, the Dole Air Race began, with 8 airplanes taking off from Oakland, California and heading to Honolulu, Hawaii. Of the 8 planes that managed to get into the air and race, 6 were lost with the loss of 10 men. Only 2 of the planes made it to Hawaii. Sometimes races of any type go wrong, horribly wrong, and people or animals end up dead or maimed, sometimes not even the participants! Here we list 5 disastrous races.
Digging Deeper
1. Dole Air Race, 1927.
Also known as the Dole Air Derby, between 15 and 18 airplanes were entered in the 2400 mile race over the Pacific Ocean, but only 11 of those were checked out and found capable of making the flight. Of the 11 planes expected to compete, 3 crashed before the race (killing 3 people), leaving only 8 competitors. Of those 8, 2 crashed on take-off (!) and only 6 got airborne. Of those 6, 2 went missing without a trace, the planes and their crews never seen again. Of the 4 remaining airborne planes, 1 returned with mechanical trouble, was repaired, and took off to look for the missing planes. This search plane then disappeared and was never found. Only 2 planes made it to the finish line, with a Travel Air 5000 flown by Arthur Goebel and navigated by William Davis, Jr. winning First Prize and $25,000. The other surviving plane (2nd Place) was a Breese-Wilde 5 Monoplane flown by Martin Jensen and navigated by Paul Schluter. Both of the planes that finished the race were single engine monoplanes, both with a “high wing” configuration.
2. Boston Marathon, 2013.
The April running of this famous 26.2 mile race is normally great fun and an enormous tourist attraction, dating back to 1897. In recent years around 500,000 people turn out to watch the event, and about 30,000+ people participate in the race itself, making the Boston Marathon the biggest such race in the world. Over the years, 3 times a runner has died of natural causes during the race, but in 2013, 2 terrorist brothers, Islamic immigrants from Russia, ruined the race by placing 2 powerful bombs near the crowded finish line, with the intent of killing and injuring as many Americans as possible. The 20 and 26 year old brothers had taken to radical Islamist views and sought to hurt the country (US) that had taken in their family and given them a wonderful storybook life. The 2 bombs made from pressure cookers went off and killed 3 people on the spot, injuring another 264 spectators, at least 14 of which suffered amputations. In the search for the perpetrators and the gun battles that ensued, the older brother was killed and the younger was wounded and taken into custody. A police officer was killed by gunfire, and another 16 police were injured in the apprehension. The surviving terrorist brother has been sentenced to death for his role in the terrorist plot.
3. Fastnet Yacht Race, 1979.
A boat race held every 2 years and sponsored by the Royal Ocean Racing Club of London, England, is conducted off the Southwest coast of Great Britain in the English Channel and Atlantic Ocean, stretching over a course 608 nautical miles long. In 1979 things went horribly wrong, with 5 of the 306 boats competing sinking and 77 others overturned (“Turtled” for you Brits). Casualties included 15 of the competing sailors and 3 people involved in rescue attempts. The rescue operation involved over 4000 people with lifeboats, commercial and government boats, military airplanes and helicopters taking part, the largest peacetime rescue operation in history. Rough weather, with winds gusting to 70 mph was responsible for the disaster. Around 125 sailors were plucked from the cold, rough seas. An unknown number of sailors were injured during the rough weather, and about 100 of the yachts had experienced “knock downs,” being blown over onto its side with its sail flat on the water.
4. Reno Air Races, 2011.
Actually known as the National Championship Air Races, this event is held in Reno every September. Several races take place over the course of a few days, with many different categories of aircraft racing. In 2011, a World War II P-51 Mustang flown by James Leeward crashed into the crowd watching the races, killing 10 spectators and the Mustang’s pilot. Another 69 people were injured. The “Galloping Ghost,” as the plane was named, was built in 1944 during World War II as a P-51D fighter plane with a Packard built Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that produced 1700 horsepower and could reach a maximum speed of 440 mph. This particular fighter was sold as surplus to the public for $3500 (!), the last Mustang sold to the public. The Mustang was modified to produce 3000 horsepower and the wings and horizontal stabilizers were shortened for racing. Over 600 pounds of weight were removed from the plane as well. In an actual low level turning race, the Galloping Ghost flew over 420 mph. Investigation into the crash found an elevator trim tab had fallen off, causing the pilot to lose control and crash into the crowd seated in front of the grandstand.
5. 24 Hours at Le Mans, 1955.
The grand-daddy of horrible car race events, an on the track accident happened when a (Jaguar) racer braked suddenly to make a pit stop, causing following cars to take evasive action. Pierre Levagh, driving a Mercedes, hit another racer and was vaulted into the stands full of spectators. The Mercedes came apart, with an axle, the hood, and the engine going separate ways, all causing horrific casualties, including decapitations and crushed heads. Topping off the carnage, the magnesium components of the race car caught fire, burning other people to death and horribly disfiguring others. A total of 84 people (including Levagh) died and another 100 were injured.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Hilton, Christopher. Le Mans ’55. The crash that changed the face of motor racing. DB Publishing, 2012.
The featured images in this article, a map by FlugKerl2 of the 1927 Dole Air Derby and a photograph by SDASM Archives of Mildred Doran, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license and is from the San Diego Air & Space Museum at Flickr Commons, respectively. According to the museum, there are no known restrictions on the publication of the photograph.
You can also watch a video version of this list on YouTube.