Terrorism and War-Related Airplane Crashes Fast Facts
Here’s a selected list of commercial airplane crashes caused by military acts or by terrorism.
June 14, 1940 – Soviet bombers shoot down the Kaleva, a Finnish commercial plane traveling from Estonia to Finland, killing all nine on board. One passenger was Henry W. Antheil Jr., an American diplomat who was carrying diplomatic pouches from US legations in Estonia and Latvia.
March 3, 1942 – Japanese aircraft shoot down a KNILM flight on its way to Broome, Australia. The plane crash-lands on the beach at Carnot Bay. Four people die.
June 1, 1943 – British actor Leslie Howard is among 17 killed when German fighters shoot down a British Overseas Airways Corporation flight over the Bay of Biscay.
Tue, 12/15/2020 - 9:54am meganj
By:
Faith Gong
On Monday, Nov. 25, 1963, all federal agencies and departments in the United States were closed. For four days, all of the commercial television networks suspended their regular programming for the first time in television history. Many schools, offices, stores, entertainment venues, and factories closed down, and those that remained open held a minute of silence. The reason? Our entire country was observing a national day of mourning proclaimed by President Johnson, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
In the United States, official days of mourning are proclaimed by a sitting president in order to allow the country to grieve deaths caused by tragedy, or the deaths of former presidents. Since 1963, there have been six days of mourning for deceased presidents, although none has equaled the scale of President Kennedy’s tribute; typically, presidents are honored by flying flags at hal