The Mammoth Book of Air Disasters and Near Misses

An incredible 30,000 flights – at least – arrive safely at their destinations every day. But a handful don't, while some come terrifyingly close to crashing. When even the smallest thing does go wrong at 35,000 feet, the result is nearly always a fast-unfolding tragedy.

jThis extensive collection of compelling real-life accounts of air disasters and near-disasters provides a sobering, alternative history of the just over 105 years that passengers have been traveling by air, from the very earliest fatality to recent calamities.

But there are incredible stories of heroism against the odds, too, such as that of Captain Chesley Sullenberger who successfully landed his aircraft with both engines gone on the Hudson River in New York, saving the lives of everyone aboard, and of the American Airlines crew who prevented terrorist Richard Reid from exploding a bomb hidden in his shoe three months after 9/11.

The book also details the often ingenious, always painstaking work done by air-accident investigators, while a glossary helps to clarify the occasional, inevitable bits of jargon.

• MAYDAY: Accident Reports and Voice Transcripts from Airline Crash Investigations
• Air Crashes and Miracle Landings: 85 CASES - How and Why
• Plane Crash: The Forensics of Aviation Disasters
• Beyond the Black Box: The Forensics of Airplane Crashes
• Gone: Catastrophe in Paradise
• Southern Storm: The Tragedy of Flight 242 (Air Disasters)
• Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival
• The Crash Detectives: Investigating the World's Most Mysterious Air Disasters
• Bracing for Impact: True Tales of Air Disasters and the People Who Survived Them
• The Flight 981 Disaster: Tragedy, Treachery, and the Pursuit of Truth (Air Disasters)