Global InformationList of disasters in Antarctica by death toll information
The following is a list of known disasters in Antarctica which have resulted in fatalities. It includes disasters which happened on land, as well as in the waters surrounding the continent.
| Year | Type | Fatalities | Incident | Location | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1819 | Shipwreck | 644 | San Telmo (Spanish ship)[1] | Drake Passage, Southern Ocean | |
| 1979 | Aircraft | 257 | Air New Zealand Flight 901[2] | Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica | |
| 2019 | Aircraft | 38 | 2019 Chilean Air Force C-130 crash | Drake Passage, Antarctica | Aircraft lost en route from Chile to Teniente R. Marsh Airport, King George Island |
| 2010 | Shipwreck | 22 | South Korean trawler Insung [3] | Ross Sea, near the McMurdo Station | 5 confirmed dead, 17 missing and presumed dead[4] |
| 1976 | Aircraft | 11 | Livingston Island plane crash[5] | Livingston Island, Antarctica | |
| 1985 | Aircraft | 10 | Nelson Island plane crash[6] | Nelson Island, Antarctica | |
| 1960 | Fire (building) | 8 | Mirny Station fire[7][8][9] | Mirny Station, Antarctica | |
| 1823 | Shipwreck | 7 | Jenny[10] | Drake Passage, Southern Ocean | Most likely a legend |
| 1958 | Aircraft | 7 | Cape Hallett Bay plane crash[11] | Cape Hallett Bay, Antarctica | 6 survivors |
| 1966 | Aircraft | 6 | Ross Ice Shelf plane crash[12] | Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica | |
| 1986 | Aircraft | 6 | Philippi Glacier plane crash[13] | Philippi Glacier, Antarctica | |
| 1961 | Aircraft | 5 | Wilkes Station plane crash[14] | Wilkes Station, Antarctica | |
| 1956 | Aircraft | 4 | McMurdo Station plane crash[15] | McMurdo Station, Antarctica | 4 survivors |
| 1994 | Aircraft | 4 | Rothera Research Station plane crash[16] | near the Rothera Research Station, Antarctica | |
| 2010 | Aircraft | 4 | Terre Adélie helicopter crash[17] | near the Dumont d'Urville Station, Terre Adélie, Antarctica | |
| 1946 | Aircraft | 3 | Antarctica PBM Mariner crash[18] | Thurston Island, Antarctica | |
| 1958 | Aircraft | 3 | Marguerite Bay plane crash[19] | Marguerite Bay, Antarctica | 4 survivors |
| 1965 | Tractor | 3 | Tractor falls into crevasse [20] | Milorgknausane nunataks, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica | |
| 1979 | Aircraft | 3 | Molodezhnaya Ice Station plane crash[21] | near Molodezhnaya Ice Station, Antarctica | 11 survivors |
| 1989 | Aircraft | 3 | Mirny Station plane crash[22] | Mirny Station, Antarctica | |
| 1999 | Aircraft | 3 | Terre Adélie helicopter crash[23] | near the Dumont d'Urville Station, Terre Adélie, Antarctica | |
| 2013 | Aircraft | 3 | Mount Elizabeth plane crash[24] | Mount Elizabeth, Antarctica | |
| 2012 | Shipwreck | 3 | Jeong Woo 2 (South Korean fishing vessel)[25] | Ross Sea, near the McMurdo Station | 3 missing were presumed dead, 7 burn injuries, 2 serious |
| 1929 | Aircraft | 2 | Whaler scouting flight crash[26][27] | west of Scott Island, Antarctica | |
| 1948 | Fire (building) | 2 | Hope Bay fire[28] | Base D, Hope Bay, Graham Land, Antarctica | 1 survivor |
| 1959 | Aircraft | 2 | Marble Point plane crash[29] | Marble Point, Antarctica | 3 survivors |
| 1969 | Aircraft | 2 | Mount McLennan helicopter crash[30] | Taylor Valley, Antarctica | 6 survivors |
| 1987 | Aircraft | 2 | D-59 plane crash[31][32] | 1390 km northwest of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica | 11 survivors |
| 2008 | Aircraft | 2 | Neumayer Station III helicopter crash[33] | near Neumayer Station III, Antarctica | 3 survivors |
| 2012 | Fire (building) | 2 | Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station fire[34] | Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Base, Antarctica | 1 minor burn injury |
| 2018 | Work accident | 2 | 2018 McMurdo mishap[35] | McMurdo Station, Antarctica | Two contractors asphyxiated maintaining fire suppression system |
| 2003 | Attack by a Leopard Seal | 1 | Snorkeling scientist dragged underwater by a Leopard Seal and drowned.[36][37][note 1] | Rothera Research Station, Adelaide Island, Antarctica | |
| 2008 | Fire (building) | 1 | Progress Station fire[38] | Progress Station, Antarctica | 2 serious burn injuries |
| 2016 | Snowmobile | 1 | McMurdo Shear Zone Accident[39] | McMurdo Shear Zone, Antarctica | |
| 2016 | Aircraft | 1 | Pilot crevasse fatality unloading sling[40] | Davis Station, Antarctica | |
| 2022 | Rogue wave | 1 | Viking Polaris cruise ship[41] | Drake Passage, Southern Ocean | 4 injuries |
- ^ "San Telmo". Wreck Site. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "The Story of Flight 901". The Erebus Story. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "South Korean ship sinks off Antarctica, at least 5 dead". Reuters. December 13, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "Five dead, 17 missing after Korean fishing vessel, No.1 In Sung, sinks in Southern Ocean". The Old Salt Blog. December 13, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
- ^ "Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ Griffiths, Tom (2007). Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica. Harvard University Press. p. 149.
- ^ "Fire at Soviet Base In Antarctic Kills 8; Eight Scientists Die in Fire At Soviet Base in the Antarctic". 20 August 1960.
- ^ "Загадки истории – Пожар в Антарктиде" (in Russian).
- ^ Rogers, SA. "Real Ghost Ships: 10 Mysterious Abandoned Sea Vessels". Web Urbanist. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 170385". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 154757". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 78943". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 179701". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 172659". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Bailey, Wild and Wilson". British Antarctic Monument Trust. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin Il-14FKM CCCP-04193 Molodezhnaya". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ Butler, Declan. "Fatal helicopter crash at French Antarctic research base". Nature.com. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Fire aboard ship off Antarctica kills three fishermen". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 34225". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Whaling fliers lost in Antarctic Sea". New York Times. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
- ^ "Antarctica Fire History". CoolAntarctica.com. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Thomas E. Berg". southpolestation.com. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Two killed in airplane crash in East Antarctica". southpolestation.com. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
- ^ "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 15183". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ Brocchetto, Marilia. "Fire at Antarctica station kills 2 Brazilian sailors". CNN. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "Board of Investigation Final Report: Double Contractor Employee Fatality Mishap | NSF - National Science Foundation" (PDF). www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
- ^ Leopard seal attacks and kills British scientist snorkelling off Antarctic coast, The Independent, 24 July 2003.
- ^ Seal kills scientist in Antarctic, CNN, 23 July 2003.
- ^ Valery, Lukin. "One dead in fire at Progress Station". Adventure Antarctica. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ Kaplan, Sarah. "Climate scientist Gordon Hamilton, 50, dies in accident in Antarctica". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
- ^ "Court finds Commonwealth responsible for Antarctic helicopter pilot's death". ABC News. 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
- ^ "'Rogue wave' strikes Antarctic cruise ship, leaves 1 dead and 4 injured". ABC News. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
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