The 10 most mysterious disappearances in aviation history

10. Amelia Earhart, the aviation pioneer who disappeared while touring the Earth

The American aviation pioneer, author and advocate of women's rights Amelia Earhart disappeared on July 2, 1937 and she was declared dead on 5 January 1939.

She disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island during her quest to circling the Earth in 1937. Her life, her career and her disappearance are still attracting public attention.

The mysterious circumstances of her disappearance, coupled with her reputation, caused the development of a large number of claims and several conspiracy theories about her last flight.

One theory describes her as Roosevelt's spy, while another theory considers that she landed on an island of Japan; where she died of old age. There are those who argue that survived and moved to New Jersey, where she changed identity.

9. The disappearance of Glenn Miller over the English Channel

Legendary musician Glenn Miller gave a series of performances in Britain for the allied forces with the U.S. Army band in 1944.

He spent last night at Milton Ernest near Bedford on 14 December 1944. The next day he would fly to Paris to give a concert for U.S. troops there. He took off from the RAF Tinwood Farm and disappeared over the English Channel.

There are many theories about the fate of a single-engine airplane. Some say he received friendly fire.

The journalist Udo Ulfkotte, wrote in the newspaper Bild, that Miller arrived in France but died of a heart attack in a brothel in Paris.

8. Flight 19 and the Bermuda Triangle

The flight 19 is one of the most famous stories in the world of the supernatural. On December 5 1945, five U.S. warplanes were launched from Florida for a training flight (named flight 19) over the Atlantic Ocean (between Miami and Puerto Rico).

Four hours after takeoff the pilots began reporting in the control tower that the instruments of the control panels of the airplanes were experiencing problems, during one of the last contacts with the tower a pilot says that something was going wrong that even the sea looked different, and shortly after, the 5 aircrafts with the 14 pilots disappeared forever without leaving any trace behind. It is the story that revealed the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle!

7. The disappearance of Stardust and the mysterious Morse code

The disappearance of an airplane BSAA Star Dust, during a flight from Buenos Aires to Santiago left many unanswered questions.

The plane took off on August 2 1947; its course was to the Andes. The plane never reached its destination, but the pilot managed to send a message in Morse code twice, which said: "STENDEC" before disappearing.

The theories are many; Alien attack, sabotage or the placement of an explosive mechanism to disappear important diplomatic documents. The most likely scenario is the plane fell in snowy peak causing an avalanche and was buried underneath it. The Star Dust was finally found 50 years later, by some climbers who found the debris and clothes in the Andean region.

6. The Bermuda Triangle swallowed the "Star Tiger"

On 30 January 1948 the Tudor IV named Star Tiger was flying from the Azores to Bermuda with a crew of 6 persons and 25 passengers. The aircraft contacted the control tower of the airport in Bermuda Kindley about 2 hours before the estimated time of arrival, requesting confirmation for the course to be followed to reach the airport.

It was a routine call, but was the last communication of the aircraft, which never reached its destination. Subsequent investigations had found no trace of the aircraft or its occupants. The Committee set up by the British government in order to investigate the causes could not give any answer.

5. The Mystery of Flight 191

One of the most deadly plane crashes in U.S. history is the crash of Flight 191, of the American Airlines in 1979. The plane crashed minutes after taking off from the airport in Chicago causing the death of the 258 passengers and the 13 crew members.

Another flight with the number 191 is the experimental X-15 aircraft that crashed in 1967, killing the pilot. Also in 2012, during the flight 191, of JetBlue Airways, the pilot suffered a panic attack and the passengers took control of the plane. Some airlines do not use this flight number any more.

4. The disappearance of the "Star Ariel"

A disappearance similar of that of "Star Triger" happened also to the "Star Ariel", which disappeared while flying from Bermuda to Jamaica, with a crew of 7 persons and 13 passengers, on 17 January 1949. And in this case, the commission of inquiry which was set up was unable to give any explanation.

3. The Miracle in the Andes

The flight "Uruguay 571 ' which was held in October 13 1972, was a flight of an aircraft "FH-227" that belonged to the Air Force of Uruguay.

The flight was carrying a rugby team from Montevideo, Uruguay for a match to be held in Santiago, Chile. This flight was later known to "the miracle in the Andes."
The weather was bad and 12 of the 45 occupants died when crashing. The following days, 6 people died along with 8 more after an avalanche's fall upon the wreckage where the survivors had found shelter. Sixteen people survived in a way that went down in history.

They survived by eating their dead comrades. They were found after 72 days when 2 of the passengers walked for 10 days and finally found a Chilean merchant who alerted the authorities.

2. The flight 990 of EgyptAir

Mystery surrounds the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 from New York to Cairo. The Boeing 767 took off on October 31, 1999. The plain crashed in the Atlantic Ocean, south of Massachusetts and the 217 occupants died.

Gamil el-Batouty, the co-pilot of the flight was accused of sexual harassment by a member of the company who coincidentally was on board the plane.
The chief pilot Hatem Rushdy told to el-Batouty that this would be his last flight. Then the co-pilot replied: "And yours". Later, when the pilot went to the toilet, the black boxes have documented the el-Batouty saying whisper: "I surrender myself to God".

Right after, he turned the plane to the sea ... repeating the phrase until the plane was crashed. The pilot returned to the cockpit but was unable to restore the plane.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration had estimated that the plane fell because of el-Batouty, but never mentioned motivation.

1. Air France Flight 447

The Airbus A330 from Rio to Paris with 288 passengers disappeared over the Atlantic in 2009.

The accident report indicated that significant parts of the airplane had frozen thus the autopilot was disconnected. The crew tried to repair the damage but lost valuable time and didn't make it, so the plane was lost in the ocean. 50 corpses were recovered from the sea in the coming months. The black boxes of Flight 447 found in May 2011, along with 104 other corpses. The remaining 74 passengers are still missing.