This is a list of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft grouped by the year in which the accident or incident occurred. Not all of the aircraft were in operation at the time. For more exhaustive lists, see the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives or the Aviation Safety Network or the Scramble on-line magazine accident database. Combat losses are not included except for a very few cases denoted by singular circumstances.
Aircraft terminology
Information on aircraft gives the type, and if available, the serial number of the operator in italics, the constructors number, also known as the manufacturer's serial number (c/n), exterior codes in apostrophes, nicknames (if any) in quotation marks, flight callsign in italics, and operating units.
1861
21 July
Gen. Irvin McDowell requests that a balloon be brought to the front at the Battle of First Manassas, Centreville, Virginia. Mary Hoehling tells of the sudden appearance of Pennsylvania aeronaut John Wise who demanded that Prof. Thaddeus S. C. Lowe stop his inflating of his balloon "Enterprise" and let him inflate his balloon instead. Wise had legal papers upholding his purported authority. Although Wise's arrival on the scene was tardy, he did inflate his balloon and proceeded toward the battlefield. On the way the balloon became caught in the brush and was permanently disabled. His balloon became lodged in trees, which eventually tore the fabric. This ended Wise's bid for the position, and Lowe was at last unencumbered from taking up the task as Chief Aeronaut of the U.S. Army. "Lowe helped avoid panic after the First Battle of Manassas by ascending to a height of 3 miles and reporting that no Confederate forces were advancing on Washington."
1895
4 July
A large German military balloon burst at the German Army's Balloon Department grounds. Five balloonists were injured.
1907
28 May
Lieuts. Theodore E. Martin-Leake, 28, and William T. M'Clintock Caulfield, 27, of the British Army ascend at 1630 hrs. from the military balloon factory at Cove, near Aldershot, in the balloon Thresher, witnessed by King Edward VII and Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu. For unknown reasons they do not descend a few hours later as planned, and the balloon is sighted over Weymouth at 2030 hrs., drifting towards the sea. The crew drown when the balloon crashes in Lyme Bay. The trawler Skylark (Captain Johnson) discovers the partially submerged balloon ten miles off Exmouth on 29 May and after some difficulty brings it into Brixham where it is transferred to the custody of Customs officials. Caulfield's body recovered at Weymouth on 24 June. Leake's body never found.
2 June
Captain of the Military Engineers Arnaldo Ulivelli's balloon departs from Ponte Milvio but is hit by lightning while flying above a military parade in Rome. He suffers from broken bones and burns as his balloon falls from 500 metres, crashes on the Via Cassia, not far from the intersection with Via della Camilluccia, and dies four hours later in San Giacomo Hospital. A stone memorial has been erected at the crash site.
22 June
A military balloon falls and explodes in Debrecen, Austria-Hungary. Its crew of two French Army officers and one Austro-Hungarian Army officer, and ten peasant men on the ground are killed. With thirteen fatalities it was the worst air accident until the 1913 Helgoland Island Air Disaster.
30 November
The French Army's first airship, Patrie, is torn loose from temporary moorings at Souhesmes during a storm. After briefly touching down in Ireland, it is last sighted near the Hebrides.
1908
20 May
Brazilian Armed Forces officer Lt. Juventino Fonseca died from injuries sustained when his balloon prematurely took off during military inspection due to a gust of wind. As his balloon was still tethered, it crashed into the ground over Manaus.