On this day, 46 years ago, May 25, 1979 (April 30, 1979 in the lunar calendar), 273 people died in an aviation accident in the United States. On May 25, 1979, a plane crash killed 273 innocent people. This appeared to be caused by a flaw in the aircraft, so the government ordered all DC-10 aircraft to stop flying. Investigators say it was the largest crash in U.S. aviation history; the cause of the accident was an engine that cracked off the wing of an American Airlines DC-10 shortly after taking off from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.