October 31

On October 31, 1996, an Airbus A320 operating as TAM Flight 402 departed São Paulo–Congonhas Airport. Seconds into its climb the aircraft was struck by a sudden, violent yaw and roll caused by an uncommanded movement of a thrust reverser on one engine. The crew could not recover; the plane crashed into the Vila Mariana neighborhood of São Paulo, killing everyone on board and people on the ground and destroying buildings. The accident prompted technical fixes, revised maintenance and crew procedures, and tighter regulatory scrutiny of thrust-reverser systems.

On October 31, 1994, Simmons Airlines flight 4184, an ATR 72-212 operating as American Eagle from Indianapolis to Chicago O’Hare, encountered severe freezing precipitation near Roselawn, Indiana. Ice formed beyond the aircraft’s deicing protection, producing an uncommanded roll and an unrecoverable descent. All 68 people on board were killed. The crash spurred major changes in icing certification, aircraft design, and crew procedures for supercooled large-droplet conditions.

On the morning of October 31, 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot and killed by two of her Sikh bodyguards at her official residence, 1 Safdarjung Road, New Delhi. The killing — widely understood as revenge for the June 1984 military operation at the Golden Temple — set off immediate political change and unleashed deadly anti‑Sikh violence across India. The assassination, the riots that followed, and the long, contested search for accountability have left a deep and enduring mark on modern India.

On October 31, 1979, Western Airlines Flight 2605, a McDonnell Douglas DC‑10 arriving from Los Angeles, landed in dense fog at Mexico City’s Benito Juárez Airport onto a closed paved area used for maintenance and vehicle access. The aircraft struck construction vehicles and equipment, ignited, and was destroyed; the official investigation found the accident resulted from the crew’s misidentification of the landing surface in low visibility combined with inadequate closure controls that left the area occupied by vehicles. The crash prompted scrutiny of runway-closure procedures, controller–pilot communications, and operational safeguards against runway incursions.

On the morning of October 31, 1963, an accumulation of natural gas beneath the west end of the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum ignited, producing a sudden blast that killed 74 people and injured more than 400. The explosion — at about 9:37 a.m. while staff prepared for an afternoon Holiday on Ice performance — exposed the danger of aging cast-iron gas mains and prompted changes in utility inspection, venue safety, and emergency planning.

On October 31, 1941, while escorting convoy HX‑156 in the North Atlantic west of Iceland, the Clemson‑class destroyer USS Reuben James (DD‑245) was torpedoed by German U‑boat U‑552 under Kapitänleutnant Erich Topp. The ship broke up and sank quickly; 115 sailors were killed and 44 survived. The loss became a flashpoint in the undeclared naval war in the Atlantic and entered American memory in song and remembrance.