When a plane crashes, is the flight number ever used again?

Question

New to this category so....forgive me if this has been asked before.

Thanks,

Primo

Answer 1

Most airlines will retire flight numbers for well publicized accidents, but this is not a universal thing, and the number is not always retired indefinitely.
American Airlines flights 77 (the 767 that crashed into one of the WTC towers) pops up occasionally on flight trackers as a training flight or ferry flight with out of service aircraft, but it no longer carries passengers. This is true with all of the 9.11 flights, as well as many other large crashes. (For example, there is no longer a Delta flight 191, a Swissair 111, or an Air France 358)
Most retired flight numbers are limited to the airline which was involved with the crash though...this has led to a very unlucky set of coincidences with the number 191. To this date, there have been 6 fatal crashes under the flight number of 191. The two most famous were AA191 in Chicago, where 273 people were killed, and Delta 191 in Dallas with 136 fatalities. Unknown to many, the Delta connection CRJ that crashed last summer was operating as Comair 191, but was sold by the airline as flight 5191 instead. Also flying as flight 191 were a Prinair flight in Puerto Rico, as well as a flight of the X-15 hypersonic rocket plane that also ended in disaster. Quite unlucky if you ask me...
Other numbers though, often fade from public memory and end up pressed back into service, either on a different plane or a different route some years after the disaster.

Answer 2

Yep, flight numbers are used again by most airlines, some Far Eastern airlines won't due to superstitious beliefs, etc. Air France still use the flight number of the Concorde that crashed, but now the flight is a Boeing B.777

Answer 3

it fairly is as much as the guy airline, there is no regulation that covers that subject remember. whether maximum airways retire the flight numbers after a crash because of the fact particularly some passengers are superstitious while it consists of flying. for this reason particularly some plane have not have been given any row 13, nor at particularly some airports is there a gate #13.

Answer 4

Yes flight numbers are re-used. This is the airlines call and to my knowledge they don't even blink in re-using this as all of their schedules are based on these. The Tail Number won't be re-used as that is unique to the aircraft. Flight 800 to France was flying the next night after the 747 went down with the same flight number.

Answer 5

yes, flight number is always changed. check out an accident page on Wikipedia and it will tell you what number it was changed to.

Answer 6

Sometimes they do sometimes they don't, it all depends on the plane and who it belongs to. If it is an army plane then they use it , other than that i don't think normal airports use it over again.

Answer 7

yes they will re - use it.