List of Accidents and Incidents Involving General Aviation - 1972

1972

• October 16 – A twin-engine Cessna 310 carrying Alaskan House Representative Nick Begich and House majority leader Hale Boggs of Louisiana disappears during a flight from Anchorage to Juneau, Alaska. The plane was flying to a campaign fundraiser for Begich. The aircraft's wreckage was never found, and a 39 day search is called off on November 24. The accident prompts the United States Congress to pass a law mandating emergency locator transmitters in all U.S. civil aircraft.

• December 31 – Baseball player Roberto Clemente dies when his chartered DC-7 crashes into the ocean off the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, immediately after takeoff. Clemente was attempting to deliver relief supplies to Managua, Nicaragua, after a massive earthquake on December 23.