Chronicles plane crash mishaps throughout the twentieth century. CONTENTS (Sections): The Price of Progress;In the Early Days; World War I; Between the Wars; World War II; Escape to Switzerland; Since World War II. It is a common misconception that an aircraft is either in one glittering piece or else an unrecognizable scattering of pieces in a cornfield. It is entirely possible to roll a $100,000 plane into a $25 ball of scrap without mussing your tie, as this book proves. I have personally known pilots who flew into hillsides, landed in the sea, collide with other planes or had their aircraft explode in flight; all survived, most to fly again. Others perished in similar circumstances. None of the crackups shown here was fatal. So this compilation should be informative as well as entertaining. And for those who fly it can be instructive. Every pilot looking through these pages can find an accident he almost had himself. Here then are some of the things aircraft have done to pilots. And vice versa.