List Of Sole Survivors Of Aviation Accidents And Incidents on:
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This list includes sole survivors of aviation accidents and incidents that involved ten or more onboard. Within this list, "sole survivor" refers to a person who survived an air accident in which all other aircraft occupants died as a direct consequence of the accident. This list does not include initial survivors who later died (possibly in another location) due to injuries sustained during the accident, and aircraft collisions (
The earliest known sole survivor is Lou Foote. On 17 March 1929, as the pilot of a Jersey sightseeing flight, he attempted to force land the monoplane when it suffered an engine failure shortly after takeoff. It was unsuccessful, however, as the aircraft slammed into a sand-filled steel railroad car, killing all 13 in the cabin and a person in the cockpit. At the time of the accident, he was 34 years old.
The earliest known female sole survivor is Linda McDonald. On 5 September 1936, she survived a Skyways sightseeing plane crash near Pittsburgh that killed 10 other people, including her boyfriend. She was 17 at the time.
The youngest person known to have been a sole survivor is Chanayuth Nim-anong, who was just 14 months old when he survived the crash of Vietnam Airlines Flight 815 on 3 September 1997, which had 65 deaths in total. Conversely, the oldest known sole survivor is Alexander Sizov, who was 52 years old when
ground
Ground may refer to:
Geology
* Land, the solid terrestrial surface of the Earth
* Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth
Electricity
* Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical circ ...
or flight
Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...
) in which the sole occupant of the opposing aircraft survives (e.g., All Nippon Airways Flight 58
All Nippon Airways (ANA) Flight 58 was a Japanese domestic flight from Chitose Airport to Haneda Airport, operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA). On 30 July 1971, at 02:04 local time, a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) F-86F Sabre jet fighter ...
and Eastern Air Lines Flight 537
Eastern Air Lines Flight 537, registration N88727, was a Douglas DC-4 aircraft en route from Boston, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., via intermediate points on November 1, 1949. A Lockheed P-38 Lightning, registered NX-26927, was being test- ...
). Also excluded are the numerous incidents of sole survivors of accidents and combat losses related to heavy bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...
s during World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
which frequently had ten or more crewmembers. The most recent aviation accident with a sole survivor is Air India Flight 171
Air India Flight 171 was a regularly scheduled international Air India flight from Ahmedabad Airport to London Gatwick Airport. On 12 June 2025, at 13:38 IST, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating the flight crashed shortly after tak ...
, which crashed on .
History
The earliest known sole survivor is Lou Foote. On 17 March 1929, as the pilot of a Jersey sightseeing flight, he attempted to force land the monoplane when it suffered an engine failure shortly after takeoff. It was unsuccessful, however, as the aircraft slammed into a sand-filled steel railroad car, killing all 13 in the cabin and a person in the cockpit. At the time of the accident, he was 34 years old.
The earliest known female sole survivor is Linda McDonald. On 5 September 1936, she survived a Skyways sightseeing plane crash near Pittsburgh that killed 10 other people, including her boyfriend. She was 17 at the time.
The youngest person known to have been a sole survivor is Chanayuth Nim-anong, who was just 14 months old when he survived the crash of Vietnam Airlines Flight 815 on 3 September 1997, which had 65 deaths in total. Conversely, the oldest known sole survivor is Alexander Sizov, who was 52 years old when YAK-Service Flight 9633
On 7 September 2011, YAK-Service Flight 9633, carrying players and coaching staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl professional ice hockey team, crashed during take-off near Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia. All but one of the 45 people on board w ...
crashed on 7 September 2011, with 44 fatalities.
The deadliest aviation disaster to have a sole survivor is Air India Flight 171
Air India Flight 171 was a regularly scheduled international Air India flight from Ahmedabad Airport to London Gatwick Airport. On 12 June 2025, at 13:38 IST, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating the flight crashed shortly after tak ...
, which crashed in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
on 12 June 2025, killing 241 of the 242 people on board the aircraft (with 87 more onboard killed than the next worst crash on this list, having 154 onboard fatalities). The sole survivor of the crash is a 40-year-old British citizen of Indian origin, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who sustained minor injuries and was able to walk unaided to an ambulance nearby.
The operator with the largest number of aircraft accidents with sole survivors is Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
’s Aeroflot
PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (, ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; , , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its hub being Sheremetyevo Interna ...
, which is attributed to a high number of accidents
An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not deliberately caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Many researchers, insurers and attorneys w ...
during the Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
era compared to multiple other airlines.
List
Notes
Bibliography
* - Total pages: 193 * - Total pages: 200 * - Total pages: 15591References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aviation Accidents, Sole Survivors Lists of survivors *