10 Photos Taken Only Moments Before Tragedy Struck

It can take years to master the many photographic techniques to take stunning, professional photographs, but some famous and historical photos are merely the result of being in the right place at the right time. Many significant moments in history are known by a single image, and this pattern has become more prevalent with the rise of internet sharing and social media. Check out these ten incredible photographs that were taken moments before tragedy struck and captured the calm before the storm.

This flight, known as MH17, was scheduled to fly from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 14, 2014, but never made it after being shot down over eastern Ukraine. Whether it was the Ukrainian government after misidentifying a plane, or pro-Russia forces equipped with weaponry that can bring down a plane, will probably remain unknown. At the time, the region in which the plane was shot down was contested between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists who wanted to have the area under Russian control. Eventually, the Russian military moved in and now occupies an area within Ukrainian territory. This conflict is still ongoing. This photograph shows a mother and daughter on the flight, and this picture was recovered from the wreckage of flight MH17. This photo was presumably taken by the father of the young girl. Unfortunately, all 283 passengers and 15 crew members died when the plane crashed after a 3 to 4-minute fall from the sky.