Talk:List of sole survivors of aviation accidents and incidents

Eastern Airlines Flight 665
I removed the link from Flight 665 to the notable accidents listing on the Eastern Airlines Page (Flight 665), as Flight 665 does not appear to be listed there. If I just missed it, or someone wants to add it to the Eastern Airlines page, go ahead and fix my de-linking. Jedikaiti (talk) 18:55, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

Pilot only survivor
1987 air tragedy Main article: 1987 Alianza Lima air disaster

In 1987, Alianza Lima was first in the standings with a few matches left, and it looked like a new title would be obtained, but tragedy got in the way. On 7 December of that year, Alianza made a trip to Pucallpa to play against Deportivo Pucallpa for the league. The match was won 1-0, with Carlos Bustamante scoring. The team took a charter flight for the trip back. The flight departed on 8 December in a Peruvian Navy Fokker F27 airplane, which crashed into the sea when it was a few kilometers away from the Lima-Callao Airport, close to the Ventanilla district in Callao. The only survivor was the pilot Edilberto Villar Molina, all the players and coaching staff died.
 * Added -- Esemono (talk) 09:13, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

Vietnam Airlines Flight 815
Removed Vietnam Airlines Flight 815 as this New York times article says that two people survived. -- Esemono (talk) 01:45, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

USAAF Douglas C-47B-45-DK Crash
removed as according to:

There were two survivors -- Esemono (talk) 06:00, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Stephen Baltz
Stephen Baltz was a sole survivor but succumbed to his wounds a day later -- Esemono (talk) 10:43, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

Gnassingbé Eyadéma
According to his Wikipedia page, he was the sole survivor of a 1974 plane crash. Josh (talk) 03:05, 29 May 2010 (UTC)
 * It seems that it was his private plane and not an airliner. -- Esemono (talk) 09:05, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

When I originally started this list in Dec 2006 it was "Sole Survivors of Air Disasters"
Where are the sole survivors of military and private aircraft being listed now? Ben Cauley (the lone survivor of Otis Redding's plane crash) and notable military accident survivors such as George Burk (wrote The Bridge Never Crossed: A Survivor's Search for Meaning), Wilber Perez (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_L._Perez), and Martin Farkaš (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Farkas) are no longer listed and there is no longer an all-inclusive list to put these names. Floracalifornia (talk) 02:09, 22 September 2010 (UTC)Floracalifornia
 * Martin Farkaš is still on the list but when this went up for DYK the community brought up the point that sole survivors of military and private aircraft includes every pilot who was flying by himself and bailed out. Since this list would be endless the scope was narrowed to survivors of airlines as an airline implies more than a few people.  As for the people you have listed if there are sources they can be included. -- Esemono (talk) 07:26, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps the title could be changed to "Sole survivors of commercial airline accidents or incidents." Rapunzel676 (talk) 10:02, 19 Apr 2013

Sailor Gutzler
Sailor Gutzler recently was added to this list (survived crash of small plane on Jan 2, 2015). I understand wanting to recognize her, but the list is limited to mass casulty events -- mostly commercial airlines. Some large military crashes also have crept in. However, the fewest fatalities of any other crash on the list is 8 (and even that seems too low for this category). Given the vast number of private plane crashes worldwide, including many with but one survivor, this one will need to be removed. With some regret, and best wishes.

Mohammed el-Fateh Osman
The article on the accident which Mohammed el-Fateh Osman initially survived states that he died of his injuries a few days later. Should he be removed from the list? Jedikaiti (talk) 00:49, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

To be include in the list
-Roberto Servente, survivor of a crash on 16 January 1959 in Argentina (DC-4). He was 39 years old. Source: http://edant.clarin.com/diario/1997/10/22/suplementos/i-01801e.htm — Preceding unsigned comment added by Igor Airbus (talk • contribs) 14:08, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

TO ADD: DANG NGOC DINH, P, 1969 VIETNAM AIRLINES CRASH, 20 SEPTEMBER 1969, 74+ KILLED    SOURCE TOLEDO BLADE CONCETTA FINAMORE, P, LAI FLIGHT 451, 24 NOVEMBER 1956. 34 KILLED SOURCE LA STAMPA SALIH KALAFATOGLU, P, THY FLIGHT 835, 23 SEPTEMBER 1961, 29 KILLED SOURCE MILLIYET JOSE MANUEL CIFUENTES, C, 1967 AVIANCA CRASH, 27 APRIL 1967, 16 KILLED SOURCE EL TIEMPO ELSA SIMON, P, 5 YEARS OLD, AIR INTER FLIGHT 2611, 12 AUGUST 1963, 15 KILLED SOURCE INTER ACTUALITES AND MANY OTHERS.................... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.245.33.172 (talk) 12:06, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Include those who never boarded plane?
Robina van Lanschot of the Tenerife airport disaster never boarded the plane. Can anyone comment why she was listed in this index? A Google search reveals many references to her having a ticket, but not being on the flight. Comments for removal? Thanks. Mateck (talk) 01:27, 27 January 2013 (UTC)
 * She shouldn't be included, and I removed her minutes ago. A more famous individual who never boarded a plane that crashed is Werner Herzog, who didn't board LANSA Flight 508, and I don't think anyone is going to argue in favor of calling him an "accident survivor."
 * It's a strange coincidence that I did this on the same day you raised the question -- I had not looked at the Talk page. 75.163.215.184 (talk) 00:04, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. I wasn't sure how to edit a table anyway! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mateck (talk • contribs) 18:22, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Sudan Airways Flight 139
So...the child who survived Sudan Airways Flight 139 succumbed to the wounds he suffered in the crash. I understand that you are under the impression that, since he survived the initial crash he should be included on this list. However, there are multiple examples on this list of multiple people surviving the crash and later succumbing to their wounds. For instance, in Galaxy Airlines Flight 203, three people survived the initial accident. Two of them died days later. Varig Flight 797 had two initial survivors, and one later perished. Do you wish to remove those entries from the list? Or would you rather remove flight 139? You can't have it both ways. ColorOfSuffering (talk) 21:55, 20 May 2013 (UTC)
 * You removed Mohamed el fateh osman from "List of sole survivors", quoting an article from 9 July 2003.
 * But, here are two articles from BBC, dated from the 11 and 14 july 2003:
 * http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3057183.stm
 * http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3066025.stm


 * Those articles show that this little child survived the crash after 9 July and that the news you were quoting may be wrong. The article you quoted identifies the child as "she", and Mohammed El fateh osman is a boy.
 * Also, El fateh osman will appear in the film "Sole survivor". I think, with all these proofs, that he survived. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.216.90.14 (talk) 13:23, 15 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Interesting stuff. I have not been able to locate an article about the boy's recovery or life after the crash, which one would assume would be of interest. It seems as though every other sole survivor has had some kind of follow-up article. There are plenty of current articles, some from reliable sources, listing Mohammed as a "lone survivor." They all say essentially the same thing -- he suffered extensive burns and lost part of his leg, which is word-for-word reprinting from the AP articles released at the time. I visited the site of "Lone Survivor" to confirm that Mohammed was appearing in the film but I couldn't find anything. Were you able to find confirmation of his appearance? The film mentions that there are 14 "sole survivors" from airline disasters since 1970, but I could not find a list. I wouldn't take what could easily be a typo in an archived article to mean that the information is invalid. All the same, that is the only I could find that mentions the fate of Mohammed, and I could not find an article that confirms with certainty that he survived past July 14 2003. It's all very strange; the articles on this crash in particular are very incomplete. Hopefully the released film will clear things up. ColorOfSuffering (talk) 23:32, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Shipwrecks
Hello. After reading the article about Poon Lim, it came to me the idea of creating List of sole survivors of shipwrecks. Anyone interested? I leave here the suggestion. emijrp (talk) 12:03, 5 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Sounds interesting to create. I will do some research to find out if there is enough content to create this article. Lightspeed2012  14:15, 9 February 2015 (UTC)

Welcome
Welcome to the club, Nimer Djeloul! --135.19.81.168 (talk) 21:06, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

General question
Interesting list, and obviously well curated, but... what is the reason for this list? A list of non-notable subjects (which most of these survivors are) requires an external and non-arbitrary source, the same way articles do. Apart from appealing to our sense of melodrama, what is it about sole survivors that makes them qualifiably more notable than other numbers of survivors? twl_corinthian (talk) 00:58, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Suggestion: Gender of Survivor
Hello. I suggest the Wikitable the article for another column, which shows the gender of the sole survivor. It could look like this:

I can't do it myself, because:
 * 1) I'm a bit too lazy Smiley.svg
 * 2) I am unable to determine the gender of most of the names.

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Zhasmina Leontyeva
According to and, this 3-year-old Russian girl was a sole survivor of Khabarovsk Airlines 463 crash. Should she be added to the list?
 * No, because number of fatalities less then ten (see introduction to table).

2014 Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force An-74 crash
Please add this crash. Гдеёж? (talk) 17:27, 30 June 2018 (UTC)

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Short Sunderland, shot down over Norway, 9 April 1939
Surely that RAF Short Sunderland, that was shot down over Norway, on 9 April 1939 was a military "flying boat patrol bomber", not an "airliner"? Generally speaking, the RAF is not an airline, is it? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 22:14, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

List criteria
There should be a section which clearly states the criteria for this list. Currently, the statement this list only includes incidents with ten or more fatalities is the only guidance. What is a ? How long must they survive? How soon must everyone else parish? Does the survivor need to be onboard the aircraft - suppose they are in a building that is impacted? What qualifies as an airline incident - must it leave the ground? Must it be a commercial airline? These questions should be clearly addressed in a section above the list, and so should many of the decisions above on this talk page. See WP:LISTCRITERIA for ideas. Hadron137 (talk) 05:46, 1 September 2018 (UTC)

Requested move 1 August 2019

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: Moved to "List of sole survivors of aviation accidents or incidents". (non-admin closure) Cwmhiraeth (talk) 09:55, 18 August 2019 (UTC)

List of sole survivors of airline accidents or incidents → List of sole survivors of commercial and military aircraft accidents or incidents – This list not only includes sole survivors of commercial airline accidents or incidents but also sole survivors of military aircraft accidents or incidents as well, sole survivors of both commercial and military aircraft accidents or incidents should be included in this list and as such, the current title should become a redirect. 64222368Z260O (talk) 06:00, 1 August 2019 (UTC) --Relisting. Danski454 (talk) 20:08, 9 August 2019 (UTC)


 * Move to List of sole survivors of aviation accidents or incidents per WP:CONCISE. The proposed title is unnecessarily long. Rreagan007 (talk) 21:46, 1 August 2019 (UTC)
 * Support move to alternate title, which would take the article back to its original title. The move to the present title was accompanied by the comment "By changing it to airline you eliminate the arbitrary minimum number as an airline would have a large number of people flying".  However, the constraints of the list, that being that it involves flights of 10 or more people, is clearly stated and having the name at the original title does not create an overly confusing situation. --User:Ceyockey ( talk to me ) 23:58, 17 August 2019 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.


 * Comment – While we were there, we could have moved it to List of sole survivors of aviation accidents and incidents, which seems definitely more common than 'accident or incidents'. We use that phrase also for the 'Accident and incidents' section of airport and airlines articles. --Deeday-UK (talk) 16:00, 18 August 2019 (UTC)
 * I'm thinking your suggested revision from "or" to "and" would be an uncontroversial move and I'd support your doing that without having to propose it. --User:Ceyockey ( talk to me ) 03:06, 29 August 2019 (UTC)

1943 Gibraltar B-24 number of casualties
This article lists the number of casulaties in the 1943 Gibraltar B-24 crash as 10. The article on sole survivor Eduard Prchal states that 16 people died ("the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile Władysław Sikorski, and 15 others"), as does the article on the crash itself which gives a number of 16 casulaties, stating that the exact number is unknown. The official number of deaths is 11 (and there are 11 known victims, so this is a minimum). I see no reason why this list gives a number of 10. I think it should be 11, following the official count, with a note explaining that the true number may be higher. Renerpho (talk) 04:50, 15 February 2020 (UTC)

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 survivors
In the recent plane crash in Pakistan, according to and there were 2 survivors and crash had more than 10 fatalities. Should they be added to the list? Isibtain (talk) 18:45, 28 May 2020 (UTC)

Hughes Airwest/Marine midair collision
To the page administrator-I think this tragic midair collision should be added to your list. In 1971 there was a midair collision between Hughes Airwest 706 a DC9 and Marine VM458 an F4 fighter. Between both aircraft there were 50 fatalities, and only one survivor. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kyle kursk (talk • contribs) 00:45, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Alain Ducasse
Even if the number of dead people is (normally) not enough to be reported, the chef Alain Ducasse survived a plane crash on 9 August 1984 (4 deaths), alone. But as the title of the present article doesn't specify any minimum number of new angels - and as it still remains the same - the French chef should be mentioned. 2A01:CB04:A20:700:85A9:A7EC:7C3:DB07 (talk) 01:19, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

Earliest
Why does it say Linda McDonald was the earliest known but there are 3 earlier in the lost 2A00:23C8:300:7801:8168:2FB9:62CD:2774 (talk) 07:25, 30 July 2023 (UTC)

youngest
Why is the 14y/o boy listed as the youngest sole survivor when the "notable examples" section states that a 4y/o girl was the sole survivor of the deadliest crash ? 2601:184:4600:9090:F895:639:9045:4E75 (talk) 13:27, 8 November 2023 (UTC)


 * @2601:184:4600:9090:F895:639:9045:4E75
 * 14y/o - Chanayuth Nim-anong
 * 4y/o - Cecilia Cichan 2601:184:4600:9090:F895:639:9045:4E75 (talk) 13:28, 8 November 2023 (UTC)
 * @2601:184:4600:9090:F895:639:9045:4E75 14 MONTHS! I'm an idiot, please remove this thread. 2601:184:4600:9090:F895:639:9045:4E75 (talk) 13:29, 8 November 2023 (UTC)

P/C?
What does p/c in the table header mean? Not explained anywhere... JanneW (talk) 17:27, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

Delta Air Lines Flight 723
This one seems to have some contention, and I cannot understand why. In the accident case of Delta Air Lines Flight 723, which happened in Boston on July 31, 1973, 87 of the 89 occupants of the aircraft were killed upon impact. Another died later the same day in hospital. Of course, those 88 are therefore counted as fatalities. But the final person died on December 11, 1973. At that time under FAA regulations a fatality was counted if the death occurred within seven days of the accident. Decades later, in 2018, the rule was changed to 30 days. But we can all work out that the time between July 31, 1973 and December 11, 1973 is far beyond 30 days, or one month. It is well over four months after the accident, or 133 days. Therefore, this is a crash with a lone survivor, and I do not see what the contention is all about. I get it, the person concerned died of burns which can be attributed at least in part to the aircraft accident, but the rules are very clear, and it isn’t even close to the 30 days that is in place even now. 92.40.201.98 (talk) 15:22, 3 March 2024 (UTC)