Heysel Stadium Disaster

The Heysel Stadium Disaster refers to the deaths of 39 (and injury of some 600 more) people, mostly fans of Juventus F.C., before the 1985 European Cup Final held in the Heysel Stadium, Brussels.
Approximately an hour before the scheduled kick-off time a group of supporters of English Liverpool F.C. breached a fence separating them from rival supporters of Juventus F.C. and charged at and attacked the Italian supporters. The Juventus fans retreated, putting pressure on a dilapidated retaining wall, which collapsed away from them. The crush of fans against the wall and its collapse led to many deaths and hundreds of injuries. The game was played despite the disaster in order to prevent further violence.
The tragedy resulted in all English football clubs being placed under an indefinite ban by UEFA from all European competitions (lifted in 1990-91), with Liverpool F.C being excluded for an additional year and a number of Liverpool fans prosecuted for manslaughter. The disaster has been called "the darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions."

Helios Airways Flight 522

Helios Airways Flight 522 (HCY 522 or ZU522) was a Helios Airways Boeing 737-31s flight that crashed on 14 August 2005 at 12:04 EEST into a mountain north of Marathon , Greece. Rescue teams located wreckage near the community of Grammatiko 40 km (25 miles) from Athens. All 121 on board were killed. Hans-Jürgen Merten, who was a German contract pilot hired by Helios for the holiday flights, served as the captain. Pampos Charalambous, a Cypriot who flew for Helios, served as the first officer. 32-year old Louisa Vouteri, a Greek national living in Cyprus who served as a chief purser, replaced a sick colleague.
The flight, which left Larnaca, Cyprus at 06:07 local time, was en route to Athens, and was scheduled to continue to Prague. Before take-off the crew failed to set the pressurisation system to "Auto," which is contrary to standard Boeing procedures. Minutes after take-off the cabin altitude horn activated as a result of pressurization. It was, however, misidentified by the crew as a take-off configuration warning, which signals the plane is not ready for take-off, and can only sound on the ground. The horn can be silenced by the crew with a switch on the overhead panel.
Above 14,000 ft (4,267 m) cabin altitude, the oxygen masks in the cabin automatically deployed. An Oxy ON warning light on the overhead panel in the cabin illuminates when this happens. At this point, the crew contacted the ground engineers. Minutes later a master caution warning light activated, indicating an abnormal situation in a system. This was misinterpreted by the crew that systems were overheating.

The Hindenburg disaster

The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday 6 May 1937 as the Lz129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed within one minute while attempting to dock at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station. Of the 97 passengers on board, 35 died in addition to one fatality on the ground. The disaster was the subject of spectacular newsreel coverage and photographs. The actual cause of the fire remains unknown, although a variety of theories have been put forward for both the cause of ignition and the initial fuel for the ensuing fire.
The accident served to shatter public confidence, and marked the end of the giant, passenger carrying rigid airships.