This is a list of well-known people who have died in aviation-related tragedies. This list does not include the approximately three thousand people who died in the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack, nor the millions who have died from aerial bombardment during war.

This list is sectioned by occupation. For a list of aviation-related deaths by type of aircraft see a separate list of famous deaths by aircraft misadventure.

The year after the names of persons is the year of the aviation-related death. Within each section, people are listed in alphabetical order.

Aviation

• Juan de la Cierva, inventor of the autogyro, on a fixed-wing plane
• Bessie Coleman, first African-American woman pilot
• Steponas Darius and Stasys Girenas, Lithuanian-American pilots
• Jessica Dubroff, young pilot
• Amelia Earhart, 1937, pioneer woman pilot
• Eugene Ely, 1911, pioneer pilot in U.S. naval aviation
• Guy Gibson, World War II pilot
• Amy Johnson, British pilot
• William A. Moffett, 1933, U.S. Navy admiral, in crash of airship USS Akron
• Edward O'Hare, American World War II pilot
• Harriet Quimby, first licensed female pilot in the United States
• Isoroku Yamamoto, 1943, Japanese admiral who planned Pearl Harbor attack

See also: List of space disasters

Entertainment

• Aaliyah, 2001, actor and singer
• The Big Bopper, 1959, singer
• Guido Cantelli, orchestral conductor
• Buddy Clark, singer
• Patsy Cline, 1963, country music singer
• Jim Croce, 1973, singer
• Marcel Dadi, 1996, French musician on TWA Flight 800
• John Denver, 1997, singer
• Cassie Gaines , 1977, musician, Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Steve Gaines, 1977, musician, Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Carlos Gardel, 1935, Argentinian singer
• William Gardner Knight , actor
• Bruce Geller , TV producer/creator, Mission: Impossible
• Bill Graham, rock impresario
• Keith Green, 1982, contemporary Christian musician
• Buddy Holly, 1959, singer
• Leslie Howard, 1943, actor
• Pedro Infante, Mexican singer
• Anna Jantar , 1980, Polish singer
• Carole Lombard, 1942, actress
• Glenn Miller, 1944, Big Band leader
• Grace Moore, opera singer
• Vic Morrow, actor
• Audie Murphy, 1971, actor
• Ricky Nelson, 1985, actor and singer
• Ginette Neveu, French classical violinist
• Otis Redding, 1967, singer
• Jim Reeves, country music singer
• Stan Rogers, Canadian singer
• Will Rogers, 1935, actor, humorist, singer
• Kyu Sakamoto, 1985, Japanese singer
• Wilbur Shaw, American racecar champion
• Larry Shue, playwright
• Graham "Shirley" Strachan, 2001, singer, Skyhooks
• Jud Strunk, 1981, singer, songwriter, comedian
• Frank Tallman III , stuntman
• Jacques Thibaud, French classical violinist
• Melanie Thornton, singer
• Mike Todd, producer
• Ritchie Valens, 1959, singer
• Ronnie VanZant, 1977, member of Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1990, guitarist and singer

Politicians

• Abdul Salam Arif, 1966, president of Iraq
• GM Balayogi , 2002, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, India
• René Barrientos, 1969, president of Bolivia
• Nick Begich, 1972
• Džemal Bijedić , 1977, premier of Yugoslavia
• Barthélemy Boganda, 1959, president of the Central African Republic
• Hale Boggs, 1972, U.S. Congressman
• Subhash Chandra Bose, 1945, leader of the Indian Congress
• Ahmed Ould Bouceif , 1979, prime minister of Mauritania
• Ron Brown, 1996, United States Secretary of Commerce with over 30 others in Croatia
• Sa Carneiro , 1980, Portugal
• Mel Carnahan, 2000, governor of Missouri
• George W. Collins , 1972
• Amaro da Costa , 1980, Portugal
• Igor Farkhutdinov , 2003, Russian politician, governor of Sakhalin
• Sanjay Gandhi, 1980, son of Indira Gandhi
• Dag Hammarskjöld, 1961, Secretary-General of the United Nations
• John Heinz, 1991, Senator from Pennsylvania
• Juvénal Habyarimana, 1994, president of Rwanda
• Alexander Lebed, 2002, Russian politician, governor of Krasnoyarsk
• Mickey Leland, 1989
• Jerry Litton, 1976
• Ernest Lundeen, Senator from Minnesota
• Samora Machel, 1986, president of Mozambique
• Ramón Magsaysay, 1957, president of the Philippines
• Larry McDonald, U.S. Congressman, 1983, aboard Korean Air Flight KAL-007
• Carlos Menem Jr. , 1995, first son of former Argentine president Carlos Menem.
• George S. Mickelson, 1993, governor of South Dakota
• de Lesseps Story Morrison, 1964
• Edward Moss , 1964, aide of senator Ted Kennedy, who was also injured during accident
• Cyprien Ntaryamira, 1994, president of Burundi
• Jerry Pettis , 1975
• Joel Rakotomalala , 1976, prime minister of Madagascar
• Jaime Roldós Aguilera , 1981, president of Ecuador
• Leo Ryan, U.S. Congressman, while attempting to flee Jim Jones' cult People's Temple at Jonestown, Guyana
• Francisco Sá Carneiro, 1980, prime minister of Portugal
• Madhavrao Scindia, 2001, Indian politician
• Wladyslaw Sikorski, 1943, Polish prime minister
• Larkin Smith , 1989
• Earl Snell, 1947, Governor of Oregon
• Lord Thomson, 1930, British Secretary of State for Air, in the R101 disaster
• Omar Torrijos, 1981, Panamanian dictator
• John Tower, 1991, former Senator from Texas
• Boris Trajkovski, 2004, president of the Republic of Macedonia
• James Waltermire , 1988, Montana Secretary of State
• Cecil Weeding , 1998
• Paul Wellstone, 2002, Senator from Minnesota
• Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, 1988, Pakistani president

Royalty

• Prince Christopher of Hesse - Nazi
• Prince George, Duke of Kent, 1942
• Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Westrobothnia, 1947
• Prince William of Gloucester, 1972

Sports

• Wichita State University, 1970, plane crash in Colorado kills 31 players,coaches,and supporters
• Davey Allison, 1993, NASCAR driver
• Marcel Cerdan, 1949, French world boxing champion
• Néstor Chávez, 1969, Venezuelan MLB player
• Roberto Clemente, 1972, Puerto Rican MLB player
• Hansie Cronje, 2002, disgraced South African cricketer
• Carlos Cruz, 1970, Dominican world boxing champion
• Twenty-nine players, staff and fans of the University of Evansville basketball team, 1977
• 10 persons related to NASCAR owner Rick Hendrick, including family and crew members, and his two pilots 2004
• Graham Hill, 1975, motor racing driver
• Nile Kinnick, 1943, American football player
• Alan Kulwicki, 1993, NASCAR driver
• Tony Lema, 1966, champion golfer
• Twenty-three players, staff and associates of Manchester United football club, 1958—see Munich air disaster
• Thirty-five members of the Marshall University football team, 1970
• Rocky Marciano, 1969, former world boxing champion
• Thurman Munson, 1979, baseball player
• Ten people associated with Oklahoma State University men's basketball team (including two players), 2001
• Rafael Osuna, Mexican tennis player
• Most members of the Puerto Rican national women's volleyball team (on the same flight as Carlos Cruz)
• Payne Stewart, 1999, champion golfer
• Thirty-one people, including almost the entire A.C. Torino football squad, 1949—see Superga air disaster
• Nick Vanos, (1987) NBA player, Phoenix Suns
• Entire US 1961 figure skating team
• All members of the 1980 United States Olympic boxing team, except for Bobby Czyz, Marvis Frazier and Lee Roy Murphy on the same flight of Anna Jantar.
• Entire Zambia national football team, 1993
• Knute Rockne, 1937, Notre Dame football coach

Others

• Roald Amundsen, explorer
• Gary Caradori , 1990, investigating Lawrence King and Franklin Community Credit Union
• Muhammad bin Laden, father of Osama bin Laden
• Salem bin Laden, half-brother of Osama bin Laden
• Teddy Ebersol , son of Dick Ebersol
• Mohamed Samir Ferrat , 1998, associate of Ron Brown[1][2]
• Herschell Friday , 1994, Clinton fundraiser
• Dorothy Hunt, 1972, wife of E. Howard Hunt
• Joseph LaMotta, noted chef, son of Jake LaMotta
• Alfred Lowenstein, 1928, Belgian entrepreneur
• Alexander Onassis
• Lionel Poilâne, 2002, French baker and entrepreneur
• C. Victor Raiser II , 1992, Clinton fundraiser[3]
• Lance Reventlow
• Quentin Roosevelt, son of Theodore Roosevelt
• Samantha Smith, young activist
• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, writer and pilot
• Hugh Ward, 1964, PI working with Guy Bannister
• Charles Orde Wingate, 1944, soldier and founder of the Chindits.

Kennedy family

• Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, 1999, wife of John F. Kennedy Jr.
• John F. Kennedy, Jr., 1999, son of John F. Kennedy
• Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., 1944, older brother of John F. Kennedy
• Kathleen Agnes Kennedy Cavendish, 1948, younger sister of John F. Kennedy
• Lauren Bessette, 1999, sister of Caroline and sister in law of John Jr.