List of missing aircraft
This list of missing aircraft includes all of the aircraft that have disappeared in flight for reasons that have never been definitely determined. According to Annex 13 of the International Civil Aviation Organization, an aircraft is considered to be missing "when the official search has been terminated and the wreckage has not been located". However, there still remains a "grey area" on how much wreckage needs to be found for a plane to be declared "recovered". This list does not include every aviator, or air passenger that has ever gone missing as these are separate categories.
In the tables below, each missing aircraft is defined using one or more identifying features. If the aircraft was known by a custom or personalized name, that name is presented first followed by the aircraft type. The make of aircraft, although not necessarily a unique identifier, is also provided where appropriate. Aircraft registrations began to be used in the early 20th century for individual identification, so this is also included in the later tables.
Legend
19th century
20th century
1901–1919
1920–1939
1940–1959
| Date | Aircraft | People missing | Type of incident | Location | Remarks |
| Handley Page H.P.42 | 8 | Four crew and four passengers were lost on this passenger flight. | |||
| Tachikawa Ki-77 | 8 | Attempted flight from Singapore to Sarabus The people lost consisted of five IJA passengers and three crew members which included Kenji Tsukagoshi. The flight was likely intercepted by RAF fighters over the Indian Ocean as data is known through decrypted communications. | |||
| Douglas C-54A-5-DO | 26 | Unknown | This was a military transport that was dealing with wounded personnel. The lost passengers aboard included Leon Vance. | ||
| Beechcraft AT-10 | 2 | Unknown | Unknown | Army and Air Force searched for missing plane by air and ground which continued for days but no trace of the plane, pilot, or navigator were ever found. Those lost were Oma Gordon Capps & an unknown navigator. | |
| UC-64 Norseman | 3 | Unknown | No trace of the aircrew, passengers or plane found, possibly overflew bomb jettisoning area. Lost: Glenn Miller, F/O John Morgan & Lt. Col. Norman F. Baessell. | ||
| C-87A Liberator Express | 3+ | Unknown | This was a military transport flight that disappeared for unknown reasons. There were known safety issues with the aircraft type though that might have played a factor. The exact number of passengers lost is unknown, but at least three were identified to have been on the flight. Two of the passengers were Millard Harmon and James Roy Andersen, the flight was also piloted by F. E. Savage. | ||
| Liberator B Mk II | 7+ | Unknown | At least seven passengers including Sir Peter Drummond were involved in this missing military transport flight. | ||
| Mitsubishi A6M Zero | 1 | Unknown | situated off Japan's eastern coast | A distress radio transmission from Zero F Wing Commander pilot Shiro Kawamoto crossing the Triangle near the end of the war created more questions than answers. The last thing his message said was "...something is happening in the sky...the sky is opening up-". | |
| Avro Lancaster | 25 | Mid-air explosion | near Corsica | A second Lancaster flying with PA278 saw an explosion at 04:40 GMT. Both were transporting military personnel. | |
| Douglas C-47B-30-DK | 25 | Unknown | This flight was transporting wounded military personnel. | ||
| TBM Avenger | 14 | Fuel starvation | Five TBM Avengers carrying 14 people went missing as the result of a presumed navigational error. This was widely covered in the news at the time, and helped to contribute to the Bermuda Triangle myth. | ||
| Martin PBM-5 Mariner | 13 | Mid-air explosion | Ironically, this was a search and rescue mission that was looking for the missing TBM Avengers. | ||
| Saab 18 | 3 | Emergency landing in bad weather | Northern central Sweden | Military ferry-flight from Halmstad to Kalixfors outside Kiruna which included pilot Håkan Gunnar Hoffberg, aerial scout Karl Einar Carlsson, and signalist Alf Stig Einar Andersson. The plane is possibly lying in a bog in the Swedish province of Jämtland. | |
| Avro Lancastrian | 10 | Indian Ocean en route from Colombo, Ceylon to Cocos Is. | Passenger flight with five crew, and five passengers missing. | ||
| Avro Tudor Mark IV | 31 | Main article: BSAA Star Tiger disappearance Notable missing passengers included Arthur Coningham. | |||
| Latécoère 631 | 52 | Atlantic Ocean en route from Martinique to Mauritania | Main article: 1948 Air France Latécoère 631 disappearance | ||
| Douglas DC-3DST-144 | 32 | Main article: 1948 Airborne Transport DC-3 disappearance | |||
| Avro Tudor Mark IVB | 20 | en route from Bermuda to Kingston, Jamaica | Main article: BSAA Star Ariel disappearance | ||
| Douglas C-54D Skymaster | 44 | En route from Alaska to Montana | Main article: 1950 Douglas C-54D disappearance | ||
| Douglas DC-4 | 58 | Main article: Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 | |||
| Douglas C-124 Globemaster II | 53 | Atlantic Ocean, 725 km W of Shannon, Ireland | Main article: 1951 Atlantic C-124 disappearance There was a fire of unknown origin in the aircraft which caused a ditching to take place. While the USCSC Casco reached the ditching site a day later, the aircraft and its occupants were gone. | ||
| Douglas DC-4 | 37 | Alaska | Main article: 1951 Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-4 disappearance | ||
| Avro York | 39 | en route from Lajes, Azores to Gander, Newfoundland | Main article: 1953 Skyways Avro York disappearance | ||
| Miles M.38 Messenger 2A | 2 | Unknown | en route from RAF Northolt to Dublin Airport via Daventry | This was a private flight that was piloted by Rodney R. Matthews-Naper who had Walter Bradley with him. Possible debris from their plane was sighted from the air, west of Isle of Man. | |
| F-89C Scorpion | 2 | Unknown | , about 20 miles north of US-Canada border | A fighter jet was deployed to intercept an unusual object that had been detected via radar. The two that went missing were Felix Moncla, along with his radar operator Robert L. Wilson. While theories range from vertigo to an encounter with a UFO, no trace of the aircraft has ever been found. There is a memorial to Moncla at Sacred Heart Cemetery located in Moreauville LA. | |
| Lockheed C-121 Constellation | 42 | Unknown | Off the coast of Maryland | United States Navy Flight 57, disappeared off Maryland with 42 passengers and crew. | |
| B-25J-20/22-NC "Mitchell" | 2 | Fuel starvation | The aircraft was ditched in the Monongahela River due to fuel starvation while transporting military personnel. Both crew members were lost, and the airframe has never been found. | ||
| Boeing B-47 Stratojet | 3 | Unknown | Mediterranean Sea | Main article: 1956 B-47 disappearance Nuclear weapons material lost in incident. | |
| McDonnell F2H Banshee | 1 | Unknown | Atlantic Ocean off Yarmouth, Nova Scotia | This aircraft was part of a military ferry flight when it inexplicably dropped out of formation and descended through clouds. No trace of the aircraft or pilot was ever found. | |
| Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster | 59 | Atlantic Ocean, 590 km southwest of Land's End, United Kingdom | Main article: 1956 Atlantic R6D-1 disappearance A 14-day search for the aircraft and survivors found only wheels and a life raft floating 596 km southwest of Lands End. | ||
| Boeing C-97C-35-BO Stratofreighter | 67 | Unknown | 10 crew, and 57 passengers went missing on this military transport. | ||
| Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 10-29 | 44 | Pacific Ocean | Last contact with the aircraft consisted of a routine radio transmission between the pilot in command and a US Coast Guard cutter performing radar surveillance duty at Ocean Station November, located at the approximate halfway point between the mainland and the island of Oahu. | ||
| Lockheed WV-2 Super Constellation | 22 | Unknown | Military flight. | ||
| Douglas DC-3 | 3 | Cargo plane operated by Transporte Aéreo Militar. | |||
| Martin PBM-5 Mariner | 36 | The last radio transmission was "QUG", meaning "I am forced to land immediately." | |||
| Cessna 310 | 3 | This was a private flight piloted by Camilo Cienfuegos. |
1960–1979
| Date | Aircraft | People missing | Type of incident | Location | Remarks |
| Douglas C-47-DL | 16 | This flight made up of 3 crew, and 13 passengers either crashed at sea or overflew its destination causing CFIT. | |||
| Douglas C-47A-20-DK | 26 | 5 crew and 21 passengers were reported missing. | |||
| North_American_FJ-4_Fury | 1 | 1 crew was reported missing. | |||
| Lockheed L-749A Constellation | 3 | This was a cargo flight. | |||
| Dragonfly ZK-AFB | 5 | Milford Sound, New Zealand | The first of five aircraft to have disappeared in the area. | ||
| Lockheed L-1049H Constellation | 107 | Mid-air explosion | Western Pacific Ocean | Military transport. | |
| Douglas C-124 Globemaster II | 9 | Unknown | Pacific Ocean 1200 km W of Hawaii en route from Wake Island Airfield to Hickam Air Force Base, Honolulu | One passenger was lost in this military transport flight. | |
| Douglas C-54A-10-DC | 9 | Pacific Ocean, 1120 km W of San Francisco CA en route from Honolulu Int'l Airport to Los Angeles Int'l Airport | The aircraft involved had previously been used in the movie The High and the Mighty. | ||
| Cessna 210A | 1 | Private flight. | |||
| Boeing 307B-1 Stratoliner | 13 | Anti-aircraft fire | Laos VTE/VLVT en route to Hanoi | On board were four crew members, and nine international delegation members of the ICSC. A study done in 1996 concluded that the aircraft was most likely shot down by a North Vietnamese military unit. | |
| Fairchild C-119F-FA Flying Boxcar | 9 | Unknown | Four of those lost were mechanics being transported to Grand Turk Island to repair a C-119. | ||
| Douglas C-54 | 68 | Engine fire | Costa Rican jungle or Caribbean Sea. En route from Howard Air Force Base to El Salvador International Airport | 25 lifebuoys, personal belongings and some wreckage were found in Bocas del Toro Archipelago, but the airplane or bodies were never recovered. | |
| Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando | 8 | This was a cargo flight. | |||
| Douglas DC-3-362 | 3 | Pacific Ocean 840 km off the US coast | Delivery flight. | ||
| Lockheed A-12 | 1 | This was an engine replacement check flight. Lost: CIA pilot Jack W. Weeks. Scheduled as last operational A-12 flight from Kadena. | |||
| Douglas DC-4 | 3 | This was a cargo flight. | |||
| Boeing RC-135 | 19 | Unknown | Flight to maintenance facility. | ||
| Rozière balloon | 3 | Emergency landing in bad weather | Attempted transatlantic flight. | ||
| Rockwell 1121 Jet Commander | 5 | Plane operated by Cousins Properties. | |||
| Boeing EC-135N | 24 | Unknown | Military observation flight returning from French nuclear test Encelade. | ||
| Lockheed P-3A-50-LO Orion | 8 | Unknown | Military training flight. | ||
| Canadair CC-106 Yukon | 5 | Cargo flight | |||
| Cessna 310C | 4 | Alaska en route from Anchorage to Juneau | Among the passengers on this flight were US House of Representatives Nick Begich and Hale Boggs. | ||
| Douglas DC-4 | 24 | Operated by Transporte Aéreo Militar. | |||
| Beech 95/B55 Baron | 2 | Queensland en route from Gladstone to Longreach | |||
| Superpressure balloon | 1 | Attempted transatlantic flight. The last radio contact with Gatch saying that he was 1,490 km NE of San Juan, PR on February 19 is disputed. | |||
| Lockheed WC-130 Weatherbird | 6 | Weather reconnaissance aircraft lost during Typhoon Bess. | |||
| Curtiss C-46D-15-CU Commando | 2 | This was a cargo flight that might have been lost on September 16th rather than the 24th. | |||
| Douglas DC-3 | 2 | Cargo flight. | |||
| Lockheed L-188CF Electra | 4 | One passenger, and three crew members were lost on this cargo flight. | |||
| Cessna 180 ZK-BMP | 4 | Lake McKerrow, New Zealand | |||
| Douglas DC-3-277C | 4 | Aircraft flying to pick up passengers in Havana. | |||
| Cessna 182L | 1 | No radar confirmation of the pilot-reported position. Theories of the disappearance range from the pilot being deceived by the illusion of a tilted horizon, to a UFO encounter as shown on Unsolved Mysteries. | |||
| Douglas DC-6A/B | 3 | Cargo flight. | |||
| Piper Cherokee Six ZK-EBU | 7 | Milford Sound, New Zealand | |||
| Boeing 707-323C | 6 | Cargo flight which carried 53 of Manabu Mabe's paintings which were lost. | |||
| Socata Rallye 235GT | 3 | Among the missing are Ian Mackintosh. |
1980–2000
| Date | Aircraft | People missing | Type of incident | Location | Remarks |
| Douglas DC-3 | 2 | This aircraft had been previously decommissioned with a provisional and limited airworthiness certificate. The intention was to eventually ferry this aircraft to an aviation museum, but this was cut short by an unauthorized take off. The runway used was unrated, and the plane had no working radio equipment. | |||
| Douglas C-53-DO | 4 | ||||
| Cessna 210M | 5 | Barrington Tops National Park, Australia | |||
| Learjet 35A | 6 | Operated by Upali Air. On February 19, a survival pack was found that was apparently from aircraft. | |||
| Cessna 172K ZK-CSS | 4 | Lake Tekapo, New Zealand | |||
| Britten-Norman BN-2A-21 Islander | 7 | Notable lost passengers include George Cogar. | |||
| Douglas C-47B-1-DL | 4 | Cargo flight. | |||
| Pitts S-2 | 1 | Accident occurred during filming for Top Gun. The aircraft involved entered into a fatal flat spin, but the cause was never determined. | |||
| Antonov An-32 | 7 | Unknown | Delivery flight operated by Indian Air Force. | ||
| de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter | 13 | Operated by LIAT. | |||
| Britten-Norman BN-2A-6 Islander | 4 | ||||
| Douglas C-47A-75-DL | 5 | ||||
| Fokker F27 Friendship | 54 | Himalayan mountain range | Probably crashed into the Himalayan mountains, no wreckage was ever found. | ||
| Boeing 727 | 16 | 350 miles southeast of Cape Race Newfoundland, Canada | On September 11, 1990, a Faucett Boeing 727-246 went missing some 350 miles southeast of Cape Race Newfoundland. After having been leased to Air Malta, the aircraft was being returned to Peru from Europe via Iceland, when the crew reported a low fuel notice and that they were preparing to ditch. There were no survivors among 16 occupants on board. | ||
| de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter | 14 | ||||
| Cessna 180 ZK-FMQ | 1 | Waiatoto River, New Zealand | |||
| Antonov An-72 | 5 | Cargo flight. |
21st century
2001–2019
| Date | Aircraft | People missing | Type of incident | Location | Remarks | - |
| Boeing 727-223 | 2+ | Theft | Unknown | Stolen at Quatro de Fevereiro Airport, it is unclear how many people were aboard. | - | |
| Beechcraft King Air 65-A90-1 | 3 | Guyana | Lost: 3 crew. Aircraft vanished over a remote part of the Guyana jungle. | - | ||
| Robinson R44 | 1 | Argentina | En route from Brandsen to Santa Teresita, Argentina | - | ||
| Beechcraft 1900C | 1 | North Atlantic Ocean | Private flight. | - | ||
| Boeing 777-200ER | 239 | Unknown | Indian Ocean | Most evidence suggests that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean west of Australia. While some debris was later recovered, the plane is still marked as missing. | - | |
| Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander | 2 | Guyana | Cargo flight en route from Mahdia, Guyana to Karisparu, Guyana that failed to arrive at destination. Despite a 21-day search effort, no trace was found. | - | ||
| Antonov An-32 | 29 | Unknown | Indian Ocean | Disappeared 280 km east of Chennai en route from Tambaram, India, to Port Blair, India. | - | |
| PA-28-161 Warrior II | 2 | British Columbia | Disappeared in the British Columbia Interior. En route from Cranbrook, British Columbia to Kamloops, British Columbia. | - | ||
| Embraer EMB 720C Minuano | 8 | Brazil | Disappeared during a flight from Matawaré, an isolated village in Brazil's Tumucumaque Mountains National Park, to Laranjal do Jari, a mining town in the state of Amapá. Contact was lost after the pilot reported losing a cylinder. A two-week search by the Brazilian Air Force and a weeks-long search by relatives of those on board failed to find any trace of the plane. | - | ||
| Piper PA-32R | 1 | North Atlantic Ocean | Disappeared en route from Lantana airport in Palm Beach to the Bahamas. A 24 hour search failed to turn up any trace of the plane or any debris. On April 8, 2019, the body of the pilot washed up on the Bahamas coast, but the aircraft and the passenger remain unaccounted for. | - | ||
| F-35A | 1 | Unknown | North Pacific Ocean | Some small pieces of the aircraft's tail were found, but the plane is still marked as missing. Contact was lost about 135 kilometers east of Misawa Air Base. | ||
| MBB Bo 105 | 3 | Unknown | Yakutia Region, Lake Ayama | Missing en route. | - |