* Gene Austin ( 1900 – 1972 ), American singer

* Charles Atlas ( 1892 – 1972 ), a famous bodybuilder

He was the fourth child of Ondrej Varchola ( Americanized as Andrew Warhola, Sr., 1889 – 1942 ) and Júlia ( née Zavacká, 1892 – 1972 ), whose first child was born in their homeland and died before their move to the U. S. Andy had two older brothers, Paul, born about 1923, and John, born about 1925.

* 1972 – Vietnam War: Easter Offensive – American forces begin sustained air strikes and naval bombardments.

* 1886 – Athenagoras I, Greek religious leader, 268th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople ( d. 1972 )

* 1929 – Joi Lansing, American model and actress ( d. 1972 )

* 1972 – Scott Martin Brooks, American actor

* 1972 – Chad Eaton, American football player

* 1972 – Jason Hervey, American actor

* 1972 – Ami James, Israeli-American tattoo artist

* 1972 – Anders Thomas Jensen, Danish screenwriter and director

* 1972 – Dickey Simpkins, American basketball player

* 1972 – Jo Van Daele, Belgian discus thrower

* 1972 – Sebnem Ferah, Turkish singer and musician

* 1972 – Dimitrios Kokotis, Greek high jumper

* 1972 – Paul Lo Duca, American baseball player

* 1896 – Reverend Gary Davis, American singer and guitarist ( d. 1972 )

* 1972 – JR Richards, American singer-songwriter, and musician ( Dishwalla )

* 1887 – George, Crown Prince of Serbia ( d. 1972 )

* 1972 – Jaap-Derk Buma, Dutch field hockey player

* 1972 – Felix da Housecat, American DJ and producer

* 1972 – The Great Khali, Indian wrestler

* 1972 – Denise Lewis, English heptathlete

* 1972 – Hani Hanjour, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77 ( d. 2001 )

When Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed into the Andes on October 13, 1972, the survivors resorted to eating the deceased during their 72 days in the mountains.

* 1972 – United Airlines Flight 553 crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45.

* 1972 Japan Airlines Flight 472, operated Douglas DC-8-53 landed at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz Airport in Bombay.

* American Airlines Flight 96 ( 1972 )

* 1972 – An Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 ( a Lockheed Tristar ) crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.

* 1972 – Four Black September terrorists hijack Sabena Flight 571.

* 1972 – Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes as a result of a control malfunction and insufficient training in emergency procedures.

* 1972 – Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashed near Kalba in the United Arab Emirates.

* 1972 – Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham, Alabama is hijacked and, at one point, is threatened with crashing into the nuclear installation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

* 1972 – Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes mountains, near the border between Argentina and Chile.

* Night Flight from Moscow ( 1972 )

Salameh was behind the 1972 hijacking of Sabena Flight 572 from Vienna to Lod.

On June 24, 1972 Prinair Flight 191 crashed after going around just after touching down at Ponce's Mercedita Airport, killing five of the 20 occupants ( including both pilots ).

On June 23, 1972, Martin J. McNally hijacked American Airlines Flight 119 from St. Louis to Tulsa.

In 1972 stun grenades were used to capture the hijacked Sabena Flight 571, allowing the Israeli forces headed by Ehud Barak and including Benjamin Netanyahu to storm the plane and take it over within 10 minutes while capturing two terrorists and killing Ali Taha, the leader of the terrorist group and his aide, while rescuing all passengers ( three were wounded, and one died of her injuries several days later ).

* The 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in the Andes mountains that killed a number of rugby players from Uruguay.

* On 8 May 1972, Flight 571 from Vienna to Tel Aviv with 101 people on board ( a Boeing 707 registered OO-SJG ) was hijacked by four members of the terrorist organization Black September, in order to secure the release of 315 detainees from Israeli prisons.

Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashed near the Dubai airport on March 14, 1972, killing all 112 persons on board.

* Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, a 1974 book by Piers Paul Read which documented the 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in the Andes mountains

* Kermode, A. C. ( 1972 ), Mechanics of Flight, Chapter 11, page 350-8th edition, Pitman Publishing, London ISBN 0-273-31623-0

* On 27 November 1972 Japan Airlines Flight 446, a DC-8-62, crashed while in an initial climb on a route from Sheremetyevo International Airport to Tokyo International Airport ( Haneda ).

* On 14 June 1972 – Japan Airlines Flight 471, which originated at Don Mueang, crashed outside of New Delhi's Palam International Airport, killing 82 of 87 occupants ; 10 of 11 crew members and 72 of 76 passengers died, and 3 people on the ground died.

* Family Flight ( 1972 ) ( TV )