Famous People Whose Lives Met Untimely Fates in Transit

Known as the emancipation of Russia’s serfs in 1861, Tsar Alexander II of Russia was killed in a fatal attack on March 13, 1881. As the Tsar’s carriage traversed the streets of St. Petersburg, an anarchist revolutionary, Nikolai Rysakov, targeted him with a bomb. His carriage became a symbol of the violent act that forever altered the course of Russian history.

Prominent American businessman John Jacob Astor IV met a tragic end aboard the ill-fated RMS Titanic and fell victim to one of history’s most infamous maritime disasters. Despite his wealth and stature, Astor perished as the luxurious ocean liner sank into the frigid waters of the North Atlantic.

Department store mogul and prominent American businessman Isidor Straus was also aboard the Titanic. Straus chose to remain onboard the doomed vessel with his wife, Ida. They refused the offer of a lifeboat, opting to stay together until the very end.

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated during a visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia. Gavrilo Princip, a young Bosnian Serb nationalist, shot the Archduke and his wife, Sophie, as they traveled in an open-top car. This tragic event was a catalyst for the outbreak of World War I, forever altering the course of history.

Legendary American professional basketball player Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. Along with his daughter Gianna and seven others, he was on board a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter that was flying to a basketball tournament at the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, California. The helicopter encountered thick fog and crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, California.

On Sept. 14, 1927, the influential American dancer and choreographer Isadora Duncan died in a car accident. While in Nice, France, she was riding in an open sports car when her long scarf became entangled in the vehicle’s wheel or axle. The sudden pull from the scarf caused her neck to snap, resulting in her immediate death.

Grace Kelly, the beloved American actress and later Princess of Monaco, died in a car accident on Sept. 14, 1982. While driving with her daughter Stéphanie on a winding road in Monaco, Kelly suffered a stroke or heart attack, which caused her to lose control of the vehicle. The car veered off the road and down a steep embankment, killing Kelly but sparing her daughter.

At age 24, James Dean was killed in a car accident. He was driving his Porsche 550 Spyder on California State Route 46 when his car hit another vehicle at an intersection near Cholame, in San Luis Obispo County, California. His untimely death cemented his status as a cultural icon and symbol of youthful rebellion.

While standing on the running board next to president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt as he gave a speech from the back of an open car at an event in Miami, Cermak was shot by Italian immigrant Giuseppe Zangara, who may or may not have been targeting Roosevelt. Cermak died of sepsis about three weeks later – though his physician later surmised that he would have survived the bullet wound if he hadn’t also been suffering from ulcerative colitis.

While on a state visit to Marseille to meet with French foreign minister Louis Barthou, King Alexander I of Yugoslavia was targeted by a group of Croatian separatists aided by the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. As his motorcade traveled through the city, Vlado Chernozemski, a Bulgarian member of the MRO, approached the car and fired several shots. The king was mortally wounded, as was Barthou – though he may have been killed by police bullets fired at Chernozemski.

Lombard, her mother, and a group of 20 other passengers were traveling back to Los Angeles from a war bond rally in Indianapolis. The plane encountered severe weather conditions, including dense fog, as it approached the Las Vegas area. The plane deviated from its intended course, possibly due to navigational errors caused by the weather, and crashed into the side of Mount Potosi, about 32 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, died when U.S. fighter planes ambushed his aircraft in an operation code-named “Operation Vengeance.” Yamamoto was shot down and killed while en route to inspect Japanese bases in the Solomon Islands.

Howard, known for his roles in “Gone With the Wind,” “Pygmalion,” and other films, was killed when his civilian flight traveling from Lisbon to Bristol was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by German Luftwaffe fighters. Howard was one of 17 fatalities on board. Why the plane was attacked has never been satisfactorily explained, but one theory holds that the Germans thought Winston Churchill was aboard.

The 44-year-old Pollock was driving under the influence of alcohol in the East Hampton, New York, community of Springs – where he painted with other artists, including Willem de Kooning – when his car skidded off the road, hitting a tree and overturning. Pollock, along with one of his passengers, Edith Metzger, were both killed in the accident.

Influential early rock-and-roll star Holly died in a plane crash along with fellow performers Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, while they were on a tour called the Winter Dance Party. Holly had chartered a small plane, a Beechcraft Bonanza, to travel between concert venues. It crashed shortly after takeoff in a cornfield near Mason City, Iowa, probably due to poor weather conditions and/or the inexperience of the pilot. Singer-songwriter Don McLean immortalized the event as “the day the music died” in his hit song “American Pie.”

Cochran was traveling by taxi in Wiltshire, England, heading to London after a performance in Bristol, with his fiancée, Sharon Sheeley; fellow musician Gene Vincent; and tour manager Peter Tompkins. Traveling at high speed, the taxi collided with a lamp post, throwing Cochran from the car. Cochran, only 21 years old at the time, died the following day from a massive brain trauma, and the other passengers suffered serious but not fatal injuries.

John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. As the motorcade passed the Texas School Book Depository, shots were fired. Kennedy sustained fatal gunshot wounds and was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The assassination shocked the nation and led to an extensive investigation by the Warren Commission, which concluded that emotionally disturbed ex-Marine Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination.

Reeves was piloting his single-engine aircraft, a Beechcraft Debonair, from Batesville, Arkansas, to Nashville, Tennessee. The plane crashed near Brentwood, Tennessee, killing Reeves and his manager, Dean Manuel. The exact cause of the crash remains uncertain, but it is believed to have been due to a combination of factors including Reeves’s spatial disorientation and poor visibility caused by inclement weather.

While Mansfield was traveling on U.S. Highway 90 in Louisiana with her attorney, their driver, and her three children, when their Buick Electra collided with the rear end of a tractor-trailer. The impact was severe and resulted in fatal injuries to Mansfield, as well as the deaths of the other two adults in the vehicle. (The children had only minor injuries.) The incident, which became infamous, led to discussions about automobile safety and the introduction of new regulations in the entertainment industry.

Legendary Puerto Rican-born baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash. He was part of a humanitarian mission to deliver supplies to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua. The aircraft, a chartered DC-7, experienced mechanical issues shortly after takeoff and crashed into the waters off the coast of Puerto Rico. Despite extensive search and rescue efforts, Clemente’s body was never recovered.

Several members of the iconic Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died when their chartered plane ran out of fuel and crashed in a heavily wooded area near Gillsburg, Mississippi. The crash claimed the lives of lead vocalist and founding member Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backup vocalist Cassie Gaines (Gaines’s sister), as well as the band’s assistant road manager and the pilot and co-pilot.

After performing at a benefit concert in Kansas City, Kansas, Cline was returning to Nashville, Tennessee when her aircraft, a Piper Comanche, encountered severe weather conditions and crashed near Camden, Tennessee. Cline, along with fellow musicians Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins, as well as the pilot, all perished.

After performing at a concert in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin, Vaughan boarded a helicopter along with several members of Eric Clapton’s touring crew. The helicopter encountered dense fog and crashed into a hillside shortly after takeoff, claiming the lives of everyone on board.

Princess Diana, along with her companion, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul, were being pursued by paparazzi when their vehicle collided with a pillar inside the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris. Both Dian and Fayed were killed. Paul was reportedly drunk and speeding at the time – but Fayed’s father, Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, initially maintained that the two had been assassinated on orders from the British Crown.

Though Denver was banned from flying a plane due to his problems with alcohol, he was piloting a Rutan Long-EZ, an experimental aircraft he owned, when it crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Pacific Grove, California. The crash occurred shortly after takeoff and was attributed to factors such as insufficient fuel, Denver’s inexperience with the aircraft, and a loss of control. There is a theory that he may have crashed deliberately to kill himself because no distress calls were made.

Son of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the younger Kennedy, along with his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister Lauren Bessette, died in the crash of the small private aircraft he was piloting, a Piper Saratoga. They were flying from New Jersey to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts when the plane went down into the Atlantic Ocean near their destination. The accident has been attributed to various factors, including Kennedy’s limited experience as a pilot, his possible spatial disorientation at night, and unfavorable weather conditions.

The Learjet Stewart was traveling from Orlando to Texas and experienced a loss of cabin pressure, leading to a rapid descent and eventual crash. The incident killed all passengers and crew members on board.

Following a music video shoot in the Bahamas, Haughton’s plane, a Cessna 402, encountered issues shortly after takeoff. The aircraft crashed and killed the singer, who was just 22 years old at the time, as well as eight other people on board. Her death shook the music industry and left a lasting impact on her fans worldwide.

Walker died while attending a charity event in California, Walker was a passenger in a Porsche Carrera GT driven by his friend Roger Rodas. The vehicle lost control, crashed into a tree, and burst into flames. Both Walker and Rodas died in the accident.

Gentry, one-half of the country music duo Montgomery Gentry, died in a helicopter crash in Medford, New Jersey, just hours before a scheduled concert. The helicopter, a Schweizer 269C, experienced mechanical issues and crashed in a wooded area near the Flying W Airport. Both Gentry and the pilot, whose error was blamed for the crash, were killed.