11 Devastating Plane Crashes Caused By Pilot ErrorStatistically speaking, flying is still the safest way to travel. In fact, the National Center for Health Statistics estimates the average persons odds of dying in a plane crash at 1 in 20,000. Compare that to the odds of being struck by lightning (1 in 3,000) or dying in a car accident (1 in 100). Commercial airplanes are highly regulated in most countries, and must pass extensive testing before being approved for flight. Advancements in technology have outfitted modern planes with highly effective safety features that prevent catastrophic failures mid-flight. But no matter how fit the vessel, or how advanced the technology, there is one element that is impossible to control: the human element. People, even highly trained professionals, will make mistakes. Though major pilot error happens rarely, the results can be truly devastating.United Airlines Flight 173 (1978)Suspecting a fault in the landing gear, the pilot of United 173 decided to abort landing and assess the situation. Though this was a prudent move, it proved costly. The crew became so absorbed with the suspected problem that they failed to properly monitor fuel levels. The plane ran out of fuel and went down in a suburban Portland neighborhood, killing two crew members and eight passengers.ADVERTISEMENTTransAsia Flight 235 (2015)Two minutes after takeoff, one of TransAsia 235s engines suffered a type of failure known as a flameout. Ordinarily this would not lead to a crash, as modern airplanes are designed to run on one engine if necessary. Unfortunately, the pilot mistook the functioning engine for the malfunctioning one and shut it off. This left the plane powerless as the crew desperately scrambled to restart the engine and avoid the heavily populated cityscape below. One of the wings clipped a bridge and the plane crashed into a nearby river. Dashcam footage reveals just how close it came to wiping out the bridge out entirely.ADVERTISEMENTPage 1 of 6Tenerife Airport Disaster (1977)The Tenerife Airport Disaster is remembered as the worst accident in aviation history. After a bomb exploded at the Gran Canaria Airport, several flights to the Canary Islands were rerouted to Los Rodeos, an airport on the island of Tenerife. Air traffic controllers struggled to keep up with the increased workload, and heavy fog made visibility on the runway poor. The pilot of KLM 4805 mistakenly believed he was clear for takeoff due to a miscommunication between his crew and the air traffic controllers. The plane rammed Pan Am Flight 1736 at takeoff speed, killing five hundred and eighty three people.ADVERTISEMENTAdam Air Flight 574 (2007)While the flight crew was preoccupied with a malfunction of the internal reference system, the planes autopilot was inadvertently disabled and it began to descend. The pilot failed to correct a slow right roll which eventually caused complete loss of control. All one hundred and two passengers and crew aboard died when the plane plummeted into the ocean. The crash prompted large-scale reforms to Indonesias transportation industry. Adam Air was accused of gross negligence and banned from flying in Indonesia. They declared bankruptcy shortly afterward.ADVERTISEMENTPage 2 of 6