High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The List of aircraft accidents and incidents caused by structural failure summarizes notable accidents and incidents such as the 1933 United Airlines Chesterton Crash due to a bombing and a 1964 B-52 test that landed after the vertical stabilizer broke off. Loss of structural integrity during flight can be caused by: 1) faulty design, 2) faulty maintenance, 3) pilot error, 4) weather conditions, 5) sabotage (e.g., an airliner bombing by a skyjacker).