Major Air Disasters

1930

• October 5 – The British airship R101 crashes north of Paris, killing 48 people in an eruption of flames.

1931

• March 31 – Transcontinental & Western Air Flight 599, a Fokker F-10 Trimotor, crashes near Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, killing all eight aboard, including legendary University of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne.

1933

• October 10 – A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by a bomb over Chesterton, Indiana in the first proven case of air sabotage on a commercial aircraft; all seven on board are killed.

1937


Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei Hindenburg bursting into flames

• May 6 – A Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei flight, the Zeppelin Hindenburg, bursts into flames and crashes while attempting a landing at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst in New Jersey; of the 97 people on board, 35 are killed. One person on the ground also dies.
• November 16 – A Sabena Junkers Ju 52 crashes near Ostend, Belgium killing all 11 on board, including the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Hesse.

1938

• January 10 – Northwest Airlines Flight 2, a Lockheed L14H Super Electra, crashes near Bozeman, Montana, killing all ten on board; the machine with which the manufacturer measured component vibration is found to be inaccurate, causing the aircraft to be more prone to flutter than thought.

1939

• January 13 – Northwest Airlines Flight 1, a Lockheed L14H Super Electra, crashes on takeoff from Miles City, Montana, killing all four on board. The aircraft's cross-feed fuel valve leaked fuel into the cockpit and an intense fire broke out.

1940

• June 14 – In the Kaleva incident, an Aero Junkers Ju 52-3/mge flying from Tallinn, Estonia to Helsinki, Finland is shot down by two Soviet bombers over the Gulf of Finland. At the time, Finland was not at war with any country.

1941

• February 26 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 21, a DC-3, crashes while descending to land at Atlanta, Georgia, killing 16 of 25 aboard; World War I hero and Eastern Air Lines president Eddie Rickenbacker is among the survivors.

1943

• June 1 – BOAC Flight 777, a Douglas DC-3, is shot down by German fighter aircraft over the Bay of Biscay, killing 17 passengers and crew, including actor Leslie Howard. It has been speculated that the flight was attacked because German intelligence believed that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was aboard.

1947

• August 12 – A British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian named Star Dust disappears over the Andes after transmitting an enigmatic coded message ("STENDEC"); the fate of the plane remains a mystery until the crash site is located in 2000. The crew of four and nine passengers were killed.
• October 24 – United Airlines Flight 608, a DC-6, crashes near Bryce Canyon Airport, Utah, when a fire caused by a design flaw destroys the plane. All 52 on board died.

1948

• January 28 – A flight chartered by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service crashes in the hills west of Coalinga, California, killing 32. The crash becomes the impetus of the Woody Guthrie song "Deportee." [1]
• March 12 – Northwest Airlines Flight 4422 crashes into Mount Sanford in the Alaska Territory, killing 30.
• June 17 – United Airlines Flight 624, a DC-6, crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, after errors in executing procedures to extinguish what was believed to be an on-board fire. All 43 on board died.
• July 17 – A Catalina seaplane named Miss Macao, operated by a Cathay Pacific subsidiary, with 23 passengers and three crew on board flying from Macau to Hong Kong, is hijacked midway over the Pearl River delta by a group of four hijackers attempting to rob the passengers on board. The pilot is attacked and loses control during the ensuing struggle in the cockpit. The subsequent crash kills all on board except one passenger, who is later identified to be the lead hijacker. This is the first known case of airliner hijack.
• October 2 – In the Bukken Bruse disaster, a flying boat crashes upon landing in Trondheim. Bertrand Russell is among the survivors.
• October 20 – In the 1948 KLM Constellation air disaster, a Lockheed Constellation named Nijmegen crashes near Prestwick, Scotland, killing 40.

1949

• May 4 – In the Superga air disaster, an Italian Air Lines FIAT G212CP carrying the Torino football team (see also Grande Torino) crashes into the Superga hills near Turin, killing all 31 on board, including 18 players.
• September 9 – A Canadian Pacific Airlines Douglas DC-3 explodes in flight en route from Quebec City to Baie-Comeau, Quebec as the result of sabotage, killing all 23 on board.
• November 1 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 537, a Douglas DC-4, on approach to Washington National Airport, suffers a mid-air collision with a Lockheed P-38. All 55 people on board the DC-4 die, including Congressman George J. Bates, New Yorker cartoonist Helen Hokinson, and former Congressman Michael J. Kennedy.
• November 29 – American Airlines Flight 157, a Douglas DC-6 en route from New York City to Mexico City, veers off the runway and strikes buildings after the flight crew loses control of the aircraft during its final approach to Dallas Love Field. 26 passengers and 2 crew members are killed.

1950

• June 24 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501, a Douglas DC-4 with 58 people on board, disappears without a trace over Lake Michigan.
• August 31 – TWA Flight 903, a Lockheed L749A Constellation, crashes in the desert about 65 miles NNW of Cairo, Egypt, while returning due to an engine fire. All 55 on board are killed.

1951

• April 25 – Cubana de Aviación Flight 493, a Douglas DC-4 en route from Miami, Florida to Havana, Cuba, collides in mid-air with a United States Navy Beech SNB-1 Kansan off Key West. All 43 aboard both aircraft are killed.
• June 22 – Pan Am Flight 151, a Lockheed L049 Constellation en route from Accra, Ghana to Monrovia, Liberia, crashes into a hill near Sanoye, Liberia 54 miles (86km) from the airport. All 31 passengers and nine crew members die.

1952

• April 28 – Pan Am Flight 202, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, crashes in a remote area of Brazil on its way from Buenos Aires, Argentina to New York City via Rio de Janeiro, Brazil after a propeller fails and causes damage to various control surfaces. All 50 on board are killed.

1953

• March 3 – A Canadian Pacific Airlines de Havilland Comet crashes on takeoff from Karachi, Pakistan, killing 11 on board, the world's first jetliner crash fatalities. The accident is attributed to crew inexperience.
• May 2 – A de Havilland Comet crashes in a severe storm soon after takeoff from Calcutta in the second of a series of crashes that leads to the grounding of de Havilland Comet fleet and signals the beginning of the end for Britain's pioneering jetliner.
• October 29 – British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines Flight 304, a DC-6, crashes into King’s Mountain, southeast of Half Moon Bay, California, on its approach to the San Francisco International Airport. The accident kills all 11 passengers, including American pianist William Kapell, and the crew of eight.

1954

• January 10 – BOAC Flight 781, a de Havilland DH-108 Comet flying from Rome to London on the last leg of a flight from Singapore, disintegrates in midair, killing all 29 passengers and six crew members. The accident is eventually attributed to metal fatigue from repeated pressurization and depressurization flexing the fuselage.
• April 8 – South African Airways Flight 201, a de Havilland DH-108 Comet flying from Rome to Cairo bound for Johannesburg, disintegrates in midair, killing all 14 passengers and seven crew members. The cause of the disaster is determined to be the same metal fatigue problem that brought down BOAC Flight 781 on January 10 of the same year.
• September 5 – KLM Flight 633, a Lockheed L1049 Super Constellation, ditches after takeoff from Shannon Airport in Ireland, killing 28.

1955

• February 19 – TWA Flight 260, a Martin 404, crashes into the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, New Mexico, killing all 16 on board.
• April 11 – An Air India aircraft named Kashmir Princess is bombed under suspicious circumstances. 16 people are killed and three survive.
• July 27 – El Al Flight 402, a Lockheed L-049 Constellation turboprop, inadvertently strays over Bulgarian territory on its way from Vienna to Tel Aviv, and is shot down by 2 Bulgarian fighter aircraft, killing all 58 on board.
• October 6 – United Airlines Flight 409 crashes near Centennial, Wyoming, killing all 66 onboard.
• November 1 – United Airlines Flight 629 is bombed by Jack Gilbert Graham over Denver, Colorado. All 44 on board are killed.

1956

• April 2 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2, a Boeing Stratocruiser, ditches into Puget Sound after takeoff from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after the cowl flaps are incorrectly set for takeoff. Four passengers and one flight attendant die, likely of hypothermia while waiting for rescue.
• June 30 – United Airlines Flight 718, a DC-7 flying from Los Angeles to Chicago, and TWA Flight 2, a Lockheed Constellation flying from Los Angeles to Kansas City, collide over the Grand Canyon, killing all 128 people on board both planes. The pilots of both planes had requested to fly into the Grand Canyon's airspace to view the canyon, but did not see each other. A direct result of this crash was United States President Eisenhower's ordering the creation of the Federal Aviation Administration in 1957, to help provide safe separation of aircraft using radar. [2]
• July 9 – A Trans-Canada Air Lines Vickers Viscount sheds a propeller blade over Flat Rock, Michigan. The blade enters the passenger cabin, killing one. This is the first known incident in which a turboprop engine sheds a propeller in passenger service.
• December 9 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a Canadair Northstar, crashes near Hope, British Columbia, Canada, killing all 62 people on board. The wreckage is not located until almost a year later.

1957

• February 1 – Northeast Airlines Flight 823, a DC-6, crashes during a snowstorm shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport. Twenty of the 101 occupants die.

• March 16 – Philippines Mt. Pinatubo, a C-47, crashed on Mt. Manunggal in Cebu, Philippines. 26 of the 27 passengers and crew were killed including Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay. The lone survivor, Néstor Mata, was seated at the tail of the plane. The tail had broken off from the rest of the plane upon impact, thus probably saving Mata's life.

1958

• February 6 – British European Airways Flight 609, an Airspeed Ambassador, crashes during takeoff from Munich-Riem airport, killing 23, including eight Manchester United footballers.
• April 6 – Capital Airlines Flight 67, a Vickers Aircraft 745D Viscount, crashes at Tri-City Airport (now MBS International Airport) near Freeland, Michigan, killing all 47 passengers and crew. An undiscovered ice buildup on the wing and windy conditions were possible causes.
• August 14 – KLM Flight 607-E, a Lockheed L1049 Super Connie en route from Brussels, Belgium to New York, crashes into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Shannon Airport in Ireland, killing all 99 passengers and crew, including six members of the Egyptian fencing team; the cause is undetermined but is thought to be an overspeeding propeller.

1959

• February 3 – American Airlines Flight 320, a Lockheed L188A Super Electra, crashes into the East River, New York City, due to pilot error. 65 passengers and crew are killed.
• October 30 – Piedmont Airlines Flight 349, a Douglas DC-3, crashes on Bucks Elbow Mountain near Charlottesville, Virginia, killing the crew of three and 23 of 24 passengers. The sole survivor was seriously injured. The cause was a navigational error during an ILS approach.
• November 16 – National Airlines Flight 967, a Douglas DC-7B, crashes into the Gulf of Mexico while on a flight from Tampa, Florida to New Orleans, Louisiana, reportedly due to a bomb. All 40 on board perish.

1960

• January 6 – National Airlines Flight 2511, a Douglas DC6B bound from New York to Miami, explodes in mid-air and crashes near Bolivia, North Carolina. The accident was caused by a bomb planted on board the aircraft.
• March 17 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710, a Lockheed L188 Super Electra en route from Chicago, Illinois to Miami, Florida, breaks apart at 15,000 feet and crashes near Tell City, Indiana, killing all 63 on board.
• October 4 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 375, a Lockheed L188 Super Electra, crashes on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport after a bird strike (a flock of starlings), damaging three engines, clogging the Pitot tubes, and obstructing the pilot's view. The aircraft crashes into Winthrop Bay; 62 of 72 aboard die.
• December 16 – The 1960 New York air disaster: United Airlines Flight 826, a DC-8, and TWA Flight 266, a Super Constellation, suffer a mid-air collision over Staten Island in New York. All 128 aboard the two planes and six people on the ground are killed.

1961

• January 3 – Aero Flight 311, a Douglas DC-3, crashes into woods near Koivulahti, Finland, killing all 25 on board.
• February 15 – Sabena Flight 548, a Boeing 707, crashes on approach in Brussels, Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team. A runaway stabilizer is thought to have been the cause. The crash was the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 707 in regular passenger service.
• September 17 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes on takeoff from Chicago, killing 37. A maintenance error caused the ailerons to become detached from the control wheels.
• November 23 - Aerolineas Argentinas, a Comet 4, crashes on takeoff from Campinas, Brazil, killing all the 52 people on board.

1962

• March 1 – American Airlines Flight 1, a Boeing 707, crashes in Jamaica Bay, Queens, New York, killing 95.
• March 4 – Caledonian Airways Flight 153, a DC-7, crashes into a jungle swamp at Douala, Cameroon, killing 111.
• March 16 – Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, a Lockheed L1049 Super Connie chartered by the United States military, disappears over the western Pacific. The flight carried 96 American soldiers en route to South Vietnam.
• May 22 – Continental Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 707, breaks up in mid-air after a bomb explodes in the right rear lavatory while the flight is near Unionville, Missouri. The bomb was an act of sabotage by one of the passengers. All 45 on board are killed.
• June 3 – Air France Charter Flight Chateau de Sully, a Boeing 707, skids and burns after the pilot aborts takeoff at Orly Airport, killing many of Atlanta, Georgia's civil and cultural leaders. In total, 130 die; only two flight attendants survive. At the time, it was the worst one-aircraft accident.
• November 23 – United Airlines Flight 297, a Vickers Aircraft 745D Viscount, crashes near Ellicott City, Maryland after a bird strike, killing all 17 people on board.
• November 30 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 512, a Douglas DC-7B, crashes due to pilot error on missed approach, killing 25 on board.

1963

• August 21 – An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-124 ditches in the Neva river in Leningrad after engine failure. There are no fatalities, but the aircraft is destroyed.
• July 3 – Mohawk Airlines Flight 121, a Martin 404, crashes near Rochester, New York while attempting takeoff, killing seven of the 43 people on board.
• November 29 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831, a DC-8, crashes shortly after takeoff from Montréal/Dorval Airport, killing all 118 people on board.
• December 8 – Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by positive lightning and crashes near Elkton, Maryland, killing all 81 people on board.

1964

• May 7 – Pacific Air Lines Flight 773, a Fairchild F27, crashed near San Ramon, California after a passenger shot both the captain and first officer before turning the gun on himself, killing all 44 aboard.
• November 15 – Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114, a Fairchild F27, crashed into a mountain in poor weather while on a nighttime approach to Las Vegas, Nevada. All 29 aboard perished when the plane impacted only 10 feet (3 m) below a ridge. Initially blamed on a pilot's misreading his approach chart, years later the chart maker agreed to pay a settlement of US$490,000 to some of the victims' heirs after it was shown the chart had incorrect markings.
• November 20 – Linjeflyg Flight 277, a Convair CV-340, crashed during the approach to Engelholm, Sweden, when in instrument meteorological conditions the crew abandoned the set procedure and began the landing too soon. 31 people were killed.
• December 24 – Flying Tiger Line Flight 282, a Lockheed Constellation, crashes near San Bruno, California after an unexplained course deviation.

1965

• February 8 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 663, a Douglas DC-7B on takeoff, overreacts in avoiding Pan Am Flight 212 (a Boeing 707) on approach, loses control, and crashes. All 84 persons on board are killed.
• May 20 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705, a Boeing 720, crashes on descent to Cairo International Airport, killing 119.

1966

• August 6 – Braniff Flight 250, a BAC 1-11, flies into an active squall line and breaks apart in midair, crashing near Falls City, Nebraska. All 42 on board are killed.
• November 15 – Pan Am Flight 708, a Boeing 727, crashes near Berlin, Germany. All three crew members are killed.

1967

• March 9 – TWA Flight 553 collides with a Beechcraft Baron near Dayton, Ohio, killing all 26 on both planes.
• June 4 – In the Stockport air disaster, a British Midland Canadair C4 Argonaut carrying passengers returning from Palma de Mallorca is on approach to Manchester Airport when an engine loses power due to a design failure in the aircraft's fuel system. 72 of 84 on board are killed.
• June 23 – Mohawk Airlines Flight 40, a BAC One-Eleven, crashes in Blossburg, Pennsylvania, killing all 34 people on board.
• July 19 – Piedmont Airlines Flight 22, a Boeing 727 departing from Asheville, North Carolina, crashes shortly after departure after a mid-air collision with a twin-engine Cessna 310 on instrument approach to Asheville. All 82 passengers and crew on both aircraft die.
• November 20 – TWA Flight 128, a Convair 880, crashes in Constance, Kentucky on approach to Greater Cincinnati Airport, killing 70 out of 82 persons on board.

1968

• March 24 – Aer Lingus Flight 712, a Vickers 803 Viscount, crashes off the Irish coast.
• May 3 – Braniff Flight 352, a Lockheed L188A Super Electra en route from Houston, Texas to Dallas, crashes in a thunderstorm, killing its 5 crew and 80 passengers.
• July 1 – Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253, a Douglas DC-8, is forced to land in the Soviet Union. On board are over 200 American troops bound for Vietnam.
• October 25 – Northeast Airlines Flight 946, a Fairchild 227, crashes near Etna, New Hampshire, killing 32 passengers and crew.

1969

• February 18 – Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708, a Douglas DC-3, crashes near Lone Pine, California, killing all 35 people on board.
• April – A Seaboard World Airlines DC-8 accidentally lands at a helicopter airstrip in Vietnam.
• September 9 – Allegheny Airlines Flight 853, a DC-9, collides in flight with a Piper PA-28 and crashes near Fairland, Indiana, killing all 83 occupants aboard the two aircraft.
• November 19 – Mohawk Airlines Flight 411, a Fairchild 227, crashes near Glens Falls, New York, killing all 14 people on board.

1970

• February 15 – Contaminated fuel causes dual engine failure shortly after takeoff in the Dominicana DC-9 air disaster.
• February 21 – A bomb in the cargo hold of Swissair Flight 330, a Convair CV-990, detonates 9 minutes after takeoff.
• March 31 – Japan Airlines Flight 351, a Boeing 727, is hijacked to North Korea by a Japanese Red Army faction.
• May 2 – ALM Flight 980, a Douglas DC-9 operated by Overseas National Airways, ditches near St. Croix, Virgin Islands, killing 23 including 2 infants and 1 crew member; 40 including 4 crew members survive.
• July 5 – Air Canada Flight 621, a Douglas DC-8, explodes following a failed landing at Toronto International Airport, with 109 fatalities.
• August 9 – LANSA Flight 502, a Lockheed Electra turboprop, crashes and burns shortly after takeoff from Cuzco, Peru, killing 99 people on the plane and 2 on the ground; among the dead are 49 American high school exchange students.
• September 6 – The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine orchestrate the Dawson's Field hijackings of El Al Flight 219, Pan Am Flight 93, Swissair Flight 100, TWA Flight 741, and (on September 9) BOAC Flight 775. The unprecedented scale of the incident draws international outrage and plays a major role in instigating the eventual widespread implementation of air passenger screening, heretofore done only haphazardly and inconsistently.
• November 14 – Southern Airways Flight 932, a chartered Douglas DC-9-31, crashes on approach at Tri-State/Milton Ferguson Airport in Huntington, West Virginia, en route from Kinston, North Carolina, killing all 75 on board. The dead include the entire coaching staff and 37 members of the Marshall University football team. (See also We Are Marshall, a 2006 film about the aftermath of the crash.) The aircraft descended too low without visual contact with the runway, despite the absence of an ILS glide slope system at the airport.

1971

• June 6 – Following a mid-air collision with a United States Marine Corps F-4B Phantom II jet fighter, Hughes Airwest Flight 706, a DC-9, crashes into the San Gabriel Mountains near Duarte, California, killing all 49 people aboard. The pilot of the Phantom also dies. The radar intercept officer on the Phantom successfully bails out.
• November 24 – A man using the name Dan Cooper hijacks Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, a Boeing 727, out of Portland, Oregon. He releases the passengers in exchange for US$200,000 and four parachutes. The crew takes off with Cooper on board, and he parachutes from the plane. Cooper is never found, although a roll of bills from his ransom is found in a riverbed many years later.
• December 24 – LANSA Flight 508, a Lockheed Electra en route from Lima to Pucallpa, Peru, breaks apart in mid-air after being set aflame by lightning. It crashes in the Amazon Rainforest and 91 people die; the sole survivor is Juliane Koepcke, a 17-year old girl who survives a fall from 2 miles and a 10-day walk through the jungle before being found by hunters. Her mother, famous ornithologist Maria Koepcke, dies; director Werner Herzog had narrowly missed being on the same flight.

1972

• January 26 – JAT Yugoslav Flight 364, a DC-9, suffers a bomb explosion while en route from Copenhagen to Zagreb. One survivor was entered in the Guinness Book of World Records for surviving the longest fall without a parachute, over ten thousand meters.
• March 3 – Mohawk Airlines Flight 405, a Fairchild FH227B twin-engine turboprop, crashes near Albany, New York while descending to land, killing 16 people on board and 1 on the ground.
• May 30 – Delta Air Lines Flight 9570 crashes at Greater Southwest International Airport due to wake turbulence from a leading DC-10.
• June 12 – American Airlines Flight 96, a DC-10, suffers explosive decompression when one of its cargo doors fails in flight. The crew manages an emergency landing at Detroit, Michigan, and everyone on board evacuates safely.
• June 15 – Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z, a Convair CV-880, suffers an in-cabin suitcase bomb explosion at an altitude of 29,000 feet over Vietnam.
• June 18 – British European Airways Flight 548 encounters a series of stalls followed by a deep stall due to pilot error.
• June 24 – Prinair Flight 191 is over-rotated due to pilot error.
• October 13 – Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes mountains. See also Alive: The Miracle of the Andes.
• December 8 – United Airlines Flight 553 crashes after a second landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 43 of 60 people on board and two people on the ground. Among those killed was Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt's wife Dorothy Hunt.
• December 23 – Braathens Flight 239 crashes in Asker upon landing at Fornebu airport, Oslo, Norway, killing 40 of 45 people on board. The aircraft was four nautical miles off course in bad weather conditions, possibly due to pilot error.
• December 29 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, a Lockheed L-1011, crashes in the Florida Everglades. The crew is distracted by a faulty gear-down light, resulting in controlled flight into terrain. This is the first crash of a widebody aircraft.

1973

• February 21 – Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114, a Boeing 727, flies off course and is shot down by Israeli jets in the Sinai war zone.
• July 11 – Varig Flight 820, a Boeing 707, experiences an on-board fire and crashes near Paris, France.
• July 23 – Japan Air Lines Flight 404, a Boeing 747, is hijacked after takeoff from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. One of the terrorists is killed (and the flight's purser injured) by a grenade blast during the hijacking. After several days and multiple flight legs, the passengers are released in Benghazi, Libya; the aircraft is then blown up on the ground.
• December 17 – Pan Am Flight 110, a Boeing 707, is firebombed by Palestinian militants while at gate in Rome, Italy. 29 of 68 passengers and crew are killed. The militants then hijack a Lufthansa Boeing 737 to Athens. In total, 33 die as a result of the firebombing and hijacking.

1974

• March 3 – Turkish Airlines Flight 981, a DC-10, crashes in the Ermenonville forest near Senlis, France after the rear underfloor cargo door opens during flight; 346 on board die.
• September 8 – TWA Flight 841 is destroyed by a bomb in the cargo hold; 88 on board are killed.
• September 11 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 212, a DC-9, crashes on approach to Charlotte, North Carolina; 72 people are killed.
• September 15 – Air Vietnam Flight 706 is hijacked and crashes; 75 on board die.
• November 20 – Lufthansa Flight 540 crashes shortly after takeoff; 59 of 157 on board are killed. This is the first crash of a Boeing 747.
• December 1 – TWA Flight 514, a Boeing 727 in-bound to Dulles International Airport, crashes into Mount Weather in Bluemont, Virginia, killing all 85 passengers and seven crew.

1975

• June 24 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 66, a Boeing 727, encounters wind shear on final approach and strikes approach lights at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
• September 30 – Malév Flight 240, a Tupolev Tu-154, is shot down near Lebanon.

1976

• January 1 – Middle East Airlines Flight 438, a Boeing 720, crashes in Saudi Arabia when a bomb explodes in the forward baggage compartment, killing 81.
• April 27 – American Airlines Flight 625, a Boeing 727, crashes on approach to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
• June 27 – Air France Flight 139, an Airbus A300, is hijacked from Athens by two Palestinians and two Germans who divert the flight to Libya and then to Uganda, where the plane is met by pro-Palestinian forces from Idi Amin's government. Israeli troops eventually storm the airport in Operation Entebbe, killing hijackers and Ugandan soldiers and freeing all but three of the hostages. Israeli colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, is also killed in the raid.
• July 28 – ČSA Flight OK-NAB, an Ilyushin Il-18, crashes near Bratislava in Czechoslovakia.
• September 10 – A mid-air collision occurs between a British Airways Trident and an Inex-Adria DC-9 near Zagreb, Yugoslavia, killing 176.
• October 6 – Cubana Flight 455, a Douglas DC-8, is bombed by anti-Castro terrorists.

1977

• January 15 – A Skyline Sweden Vickers Viscount 838 crashes in Kälvesta, Sweden just outside Stockholm, killing all 22 on board.
• March 27 – KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736, both Boeing 747s, collide in the Tenerife disaster. This accident, the worst in the history of commercial aviation, kills 583 people.
• April 4 – Southern Airways Flight 242, a DC-9, crash-lands on a highway after dual engine failure encountered in a thunderstorm. Sixty-two out of 85 aboard are killed, along with eight people on the ground.
• April 28 – An Aviateca Convair 240 crashes near Guatemala City, Guatemala, killing all 28 people on board
• May 14 – A Dan-Air/IAS Cargo Boeing 707 crashes near Lusaka, Zambia, killing all 6 on-board.
• May 27 – An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 crashes on approach in Havana, Cuba. It remains the second-worst air accident in Cuba's history.
• September 28 – Japan Air Lines Flight 472, a Douglas DC-8, is hijacked after taking off from Mumbai, India by Japanese Red Army (JRA) terrorists. The terrorists force the plane to land in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where they demand US$6,000,000 and the release of nine imprisoned JRA members being held in Japan. The Japanese government complies and all of the hostages are eventually released.
• October 13 – Lufthansa Flight 181, a Boeing 737, is hijacked by four Palestinian members of the PFLP. The hijackers kill the captain; subsequently, German commandos from GSG-9 storm the aircraft, killing three of the hijackers and capturing the fourth, with no other casualties.
• October 20 – Lynyrd Skynyrd's chartered Convair 240 airliner runs out of fuel en route to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, crashing five miles north of Gillsburg, Mississippi in a swampy pine forest while trying to reach an alternate airport. Four members of the band and crew are killed, as are both pilots. Lead singer and founder of the band, Ronnie Van Zant, dies at the crash site.
• November 19 - TAP Portugal Flight 425, a Boeing 727 overran the runway at Madeira Airport and plunged over a steep bank, bursting into flames, killing 131 of the 164 people on board.
• December 4 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 653, a Boeing 737, is hijacked under mysterious circumstances. Minutes later, the airliner strikes the ocean at a steep angle, killing all 100 people aboard.

1978

• January 1 – Air-India Flight 855, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Arabian Sea due to instrument malfunction and pilot error. All 213 passengers and crew die.
• April 20 – Korean Air Lines Flight 902, a Boeing 707, is shot down by Soviet fighter planes. The plane crash-lands near the Soviet Union's border with Finland; two of the 109 people on board are killed. The rest are subsequently released.
• May 8 – National Airlines Flight 193, a Boeing 727, lands short on approach to Pensacola, Florida in Escambia Bay due to pilot error. Three passengers out of 58 people on board drown.
• June 26 – Air Canada Flight 189, a DC-9, crashes on takeoff due to tire failure. Two die out of 107 passengers on board.
• September 25 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182, a Boeing 727, collides with a Cessna 172 over San Diego, California. All 135 aboard the airliner, both pilots of the Cessna, and seven people on the ground are killed.
• November 15 – Icelandic Airlines Flight LL 001, a DC-8 on a charter flight, crashes into a coconut plantation while on approach to Katunayake, Sri Lanka for a refueling stop. Seventy-eight survive, but 184 are killed.
• December 28 – United Airlines Flight 173, a DC-8, runs out of fuel while circling near Portland, Oregon in order for the crew to investigate a light indicating a problem with the landing gear. The plane crashes in a wooded area, killing 10 and injuring 24 of the 181 on board.

1979

• May 25 – American Airlines Flight 191, a DC-10, crashes on takeoff from O'Hare International Airport after catastrophic mechanical failure, killing all 271 on board and two on the ground. Prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks, this was the worst airliner incident in American history, and it remains the worst airliner accident.
• November 26 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740, a Boeing 707, crashes after a fire in the cabin. All 145 passengers and 11 crew die.
• November 28 – Air New Zealand Flight 901, a DC-10, hits high ground in Mount Erebus, Antarctica, killing 257. This is also known as the Mount Erebus disaster.

1980

• March 14 - LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007, an Ilyushin Il-62 crashes near Warsaw airport due to loss of control after the no. 2 engine disintegrates and severs the elevator and rudder control lines. All 87 on board perish.
• June 27 – Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 crashes into the sea near Italy in controversial circumstances.
• August 19 – Saudia Flight 163 lands at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia when a fire breaks out on board. The evacuation of the plane upon landing is delayed and all 301 on board die.

[edit] 1981

• August 22 – Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103, a Boeing 737, disintegrates during flight. Severe corrosion in the fuselage structure leads to explosive decompression and disintegration at high altitude; all 110 on board are killed.
• October 6 – NLM Cityhopper Flight 431 is destroyed by a tornado near Rotterdam.

[edit] 1982

• January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737, crashes into the frozen Potomac River after takeoff from Washington National Airport. Five on board survive; 78 on board and 4 on the ground die, including one initial survivor who dies after ensuring that the other crash survivors are rescued from the frozen river.
• January 23 – World Airways Flight 30, a DC-10, overshoots the runway at Boston, Massachusetts. Two passengers are ejected from the aircraft; their bodies are never found.
• June 8 – VASP Flight 168, a Boeing 727, crashes into a hillside in Brazil, killing all 137 on board.
• June 23 – British Airways Flight 009, a Boeing 747-200, flies through a cloud of volcanic ash south of Java; all engines fail in flight, forcing the plane to glide. The crew is able to restart the engines and make a safe landing.
• July 9 – Pan Am Flight 759, crashes in Kenner, Louisiana, shortly after takeoff. All 145 on board and 8 people on the ground are killed.

[edit] 1983

• June 2 – Air Canada Flight 797, a DC-9, catches fire during flight over Kentucky. 23 out of 41 passengers die from smoke inhalation even after the crew successfully land the aircraft in Cincinnati, Ohio. Renowned Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers dies while helping other passengers evacuate the aircraft.
• July 16 – A British Airways Sikorsky S-61 helicopter crashes into the sea off the Isles of Scilly. Twenty people die, making the incident the worst helicopter accident in the United Kingdom at the time and sparking a review of helicopter safety.
• July 23 – Air Canada Flight 143, a Boeing 767, runs out of fuel above Manitoba due to a miscalculation. The crew successfully glide the aircraft to a safe landing at a former Air Force base at Gimli, Manitoba. The aircraft became known as the Gimli Glider.
• September 1 – Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747, is shot down by Soviet fighter planes near Sakhalin after violating Soviet airspace. All 269 people on board are killed.
• September 23 – Gulf Air Flight 771, a Boeing 737, crashes near Mina Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates after a bomb planted by the Abu Nidal Organization detonates on board. All 117 people on board perish.
• November 27 – Avianca Flight 11, a Boeing 747, impacts a hill while attempting to land at Madrid, Spain, due to a navigational error. Of the 192 passengers and crew aboard, 11 survive.

[edit] 1984

• March 22 – Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501, a Boeing 737, suffers a catastrophic mechanical failure during takeoff from Calgary. All passengers and crew are safely evacuated, but the plane burns to the ground

[edit] 1985

• January 1 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 980, a Boeing 727, impacts Mount Illimani in Bolivia. Twenty-nine are killed.
• January 21 – Galaxy Airlines Flight 203, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes in Reno, Nevada while attempting to return to the airport to troubleshoot a noise, killing 70 of the 71 people on board. It is later discovered that the air start door was not properly secured.
• February 19 – China Airlines Flight 006, a Boeing 747SP, suffers an engine flameout off the coast of California and dives 30,000 feet before regaining control and landing in San Francisco.
• June 14 – TWA Flight 847, a Boeing 727, is hijacked by Lebanese militants. One passenger is murdered during the three-day ordeal.
• June 23 – Air-India Flight 182, a Boeing 747, is bombed by Sikh extremists. It crashes into the ocean near Ireland, killing all 329 people on board.
• August 2 – Delta Air Lines Flight 191, a Lockheed Tristar, crashes on approach to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport due to wind shear from a sudden thunderstorm. Of the 163 passengers and crew aboard, 29 survive.
• August 12 – Japan Air Lines Flight 123, a Boeing 747, crashes into Mount Osutaka after catastrophic failure of the tailplane severs all hydraulic lines and renders the aircraft uncontrollable. 520 people are killed. To date, it is the worst single-aircraft disaster in history.
• August 22 – British Airtours Flight 28M, a Boeing 737, aborts its takeoff from Manchester, England due to an engine fire. While 63 passengers and crew escape alive, 53 are killed, most from smoke inhalation.
• September 6 – Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105, a DC-9, crashes after takeoff from Milwaukee, Wisconsin due to engine failure and pilot error. All 31 people on board are killed.
• November 23 – EgyptAir Flight 648, a Boeing 737, is hijacked by Palestinian militants. Egyptian special forces storm the plane on the island of Malta. The incident kills 58 out of 90 passengers and all but one of the hijackers.
• December 12 – Arrow Air Flight 1285, a DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Newfoundland. All 256 passengers and crew die, making it currently the worst air disaster to occur in Canada. The cause is undetermined.

[edit] 1986

• March 31 – Mexicana Flight 940, a Boeing 727, crashes into high ground near Maravatio, Mexico. 167 passengers and crew are killed.
• April 2 – TWA Flight 840, a Boeing 727, is bombed by Palestinian militants, killing four passengers. The plane manages to land safely in Athens.
• August 31 – Aeroméxico Flight 498, a DC-9, collides with a Piper Cherokee over Los Angeles. 82 people die, including 15 on the ground.
• September 5 – Pan Am Flight 73, a Boeing 747, is hijacked on the ground at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, by Palestinian militants. About twenty passengers and crew die during a shootout inside the plane.
• December 25 – Iraqi Airways Flight 163, a Boeing 737, is hijacked by Hezbollah militants while en route to Amman, Jordan. A shootout with security forces causes the plane to crash, killing 63 of the 106 people on board.

[edit] 1987

• May 9, 1987 - LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055, an Il-62M crashes near Warsaw while trying to land due to engines failure. All 183 passengers and crew members perish.
• August 16 – Northwest Airlines Flight 255, an MD-82, crashes on takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan, 25 miles west of Detroit, due to pilot error. Out of 155 on board, one four-year-old girl survives.
• August 31 – Thai Airways Flight 365, a Boeing 737, crashes into the ocean off the coast of Thailand due to pilot error. All 83 passengers and crew perish.
• November 28 – South African Airways Flight 295, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Indian Ocean after a fire in the cargo hold. All 159 aboard die.
• November 29 – Korean Air Flight 858, a Boeing 707, crashes into the Andaman Sea after a bomb explodes on board. All 115 people on board are killed.
• December 7 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771, a BAe 146, is hijacked and deliberately crashed near Cayucos, California by a disgruntled airline employee. All 43 people on board, including the hijacker, are killed.

[edit] 1988

• March 17 – Avianca Flight 410, a Boeing 727, crashes into terrain near Cúcuta, Colombia after takeoff due to pilot error. All 142 people on board die.
• April 28 – Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737, suffers explosive decompression during flight but manages to land safely. One flight attendant is blown out of the plane and killed, and several passengers are injured.
• July 3 – Iran Air Flight 655, an Airbus A300, is controversially shot down over Iranian waters by the missile cruiser USS Vincennes near Dubai. All 290 people on board are killed.
• August 31 – Delta Air Lines Flight 1141, a Boeing 727, crashes on takeoff from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport due to pilot error, killing ten passengers and two crew members.
• October 19 - Indian Airlines Flight 113 hits an electric mast five miles (eight km)out on approach in poor visibility. All six crew members and 124 of 129 passengers were killed
• December 21 – Pan Am Flight 103, a Boeing 747, crashes near Lockerbie, Scotland after a terrorist bomb explodes on board. All 259 people on board and 11 on the ground are killed. The incident became known as the Lockerbie air disaster.

[edit] 1989

• January 8 – British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737, crashes near Leicester after one of its engines loses a fan blade and fails. Of the 118 passengers and 8 crew, 79 survive. The incident became known as the Kegworth air disaster.
• February 8 – Independent Air Flight 1851, a Boeing 707, crashes into a hill on approach to Santa Maria, the Azores. All 144 people on board are killed.
• February 24 – United Airlines Flight 811, a Boeing 747, suffers an explosive decompression shortly after takeoff from Honolulu, Hawaii, caused by a cargo door which burst open during flight. Nine passengers are sucked out of the plane, but the crew manage to land safely at Honolulu.
• March 10 – Air Ontario Flight 1363, a Fokker F-28, crashes immediately after takeoff from Dryden, Ontario due to ice on the wings. 24 people are killed.
• June 7 – Surinam Airways Flight PY764, a DC-8, crashes while attempting to land in heavy fog at Paramaribo, Suriname. The plane hits trees and flips upside down, killing 176 people.
• July 19 – United Airlines Flight 232, a DC-10, suffers a complete hydraulic system failure over Iowa. The crew maintains partial control of the aircraft using differential throttle, bringing it to a crash landing on the runway of the Sioux City, Iowa airport. Of the 296 people on board, 111 die.
• September 3 – Varig Flight 254, a Boeing 737, runs out of fuel due to incorrect navigation and crashes in the Brazilian jungle, killing 12 of the 48 passengers on board.
• September 8 – Partnair Flight 394, a Convair 580, crashes into the North Sea after its tail section falls off in midair. All 55 people on board perish.
• September 19 – UTA Flight 772, a DC-10, explodes in mid-air over the Sahara desert when a bomb hidden in its forward cargo hold detonates. All 170 people on board are killed. Responsibility for the bombing is later traced back to Abdullah Sanussi, the brother-in-law of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, whose government in 2003 agrees to pay compensation to the victims.
• November 27 – Avianca Flight 203, a Boeing 727, explodes in mid-air over Colombia, killing 107 people on board as well as several on the ground. The Medellín Cartel claimed responsibility for the attack.

1990

• January 25 – Avianca Flight 52, a Boeing 707, runs out of fuel and crashes while attempting to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Of the 158 people on board, 85 survive.
• February 14 – Indian Airlines Flight 605, an Airbus A320, crashes on its final approach to Bangalore airport. 92 persons are killed.
• June 10 – British Airways Flight 5390, a BAC One-Eleven, suffers explosive decompression over Didcot, Oxfordshire, England when one of the front windscreen panes blows out. The captain is partially sucked out of the cockpit, but a flight attendant manages to keep his unconscious body from falling from the aircraft. The first officer lands the aircraft safely at Southampton Airport. All on board survive.
• August 2 – British Airways Flight 149, a Boeing 747, is captured and later destroyed by Iraqi soldiers in the opening stages of the invasion of Kuwait. There are no documented fatalities.

[edit] 1991

• February 1 – USAir Flight 1493, a Boeing 737, strikes a Fairchild Metro commuter plane waiting to take off from the same runway on which the Boeing 737 is landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Thirty-four people, including all of the Metro passengers and 22 of the Boeing 737 passengers, are killed.
• March 3 – United Airlines Flight 585, a Boeing 737, crashes while attempting to land at Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing all 25 people on board. The cause of the crash was not identified until the investigation into the crash of USAir Flight 427 in 1994; both crashes were eventually attributed to defects in a valve associated with the rudder.
• March 26 – Singapore Airlines Flight 117 is hijacked by Pakistani militants en route to Singapore, where, upon landing, it is stormed by Singapore Special Operations forces. All of the hijackers are killed in the operation, with no fatalities amongst the passengers and crew.
• April 5 – Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311, an Embraer 120RT Brasilia, rolls sharply and crashes on final approach to Brunswick, Georgia, killing all 23 people on board, including former Texas senator John Tower, his adult daughter, and astronaut Sonny Carter.
• May 26 – Lauda Air Flight 004, a Boeing 767, disintegrates in mid-air over Uthai Thani Province, Thailand, killing all 223 people on board. A thrust reverser had accidentally deployed in flight, causing the disaster.
• August 16 - Indian Airlines Flight 257 hits high ground during descent about 30 km from the Imphal airport. All six crew members and 63 passengers were killed.
• September 11 – Continental Express Flight 2574 crashes on descent in Eagle Lake, Texas, killing all 14 people on board. Maintenance crews traded work shifts during repairs to the horizontal stabilizer, inadvertently leaving 47 bolts missing. Reformers pointed to this error and called for development of a "safety culture".
• December 27 – Both engines of SAS Flight 751, an MD-81, fail shortly after takeoff from Stockholm, Sweden. The pilots successfully make an emergency landing in a nearby field, injuring 25 passengers but incurring not a single fatality.

[edit] 1992

• March 22 – USAir Flight 405, a Fokker F-28, crashes on takeoff from New York due to ice buildup. Twenty-seven of the 51 people on board are killed. The then-president of Cleveland, Ohio's renowned Cleveland Clinic is among the survivors.
• July 30 – TWA Flight 843 aborts takeoff at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Lockheed L-1011 turns off the runway onto grass in order to avoid striking a concrete barrier. The plane is destroyed by fire shortly after all 292 passengers and crew evacuate with no loss of life.
• September 28 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268, an Airbus A300, crashes near Kathmandu, Nepal, killing all 12 crew and 155 passengers.
• October 4 – El Al Flight 1862, a Boeing 747 freighter, crashes into high-rise apartment buildings in Amsterdam after two of its engines detach from the wing. Forty-three people, including the plane's crew of 3, are killed. The incident became known as the Bijlmerramp (Bijlmer disaster).
• December 21 – Martinair Flight 495 crashes in Faro, Portugal, killing 54 people and injuring 106.

[edit] 1993

• April 26 – Indian Airlines Flight 491, a Boeing 737, strikes a large vehicle on a road just outside the Aurangabad airport and crashes subsequently, killing 55 of the 118 people onboard.
• July 26 – Asiana Airlines Flight 733, a Boeing 737, crashes into a mountain in Haenam after failed landing attempts, killing 78.
• September 14 – Lufthansa Flight 2904, an Airbus A320, crashes after overrunning the runway in Warsaw, Poland, killing 2 people on board.
• September 21 – Transair Georgian Airline Crash (21 September): A Tupolev Tu-134A is hit on approach to Sukhumi-Babusheri Airport by a surface-to-air missile. The plane crashes into the Black Sea, killing all five crew members and 22 passengers.
• September 22 – Transair Georgian Airline Crash (22 September): Another plane, a Tupolev Tu-154A carrying refugees from a besieged city, is shot down on takeoff from the airport. The plane crashes on the runway, killing 106 of the 132 people on board.

[edit] 1994

• March 23 – Aeroflot Flight 593, an Airbus A310, crashes into a wooded hillside in Siberia. All 75 passengers and crew are killed.
• April 26 – China Airlines Flight 140, an Airbus A300, crashes while landing at Nagoya, Japan due to pilot error. 264 people of the 271 on board die.
• July 2 – USAir Flight 1016, a DC-9, crashes while attempting to land at Charlotte, North Carolina during a thunderstorm. 37 of the 51 people on board are killed.
• July 19 – Alas Chiricanas Flight 00901, an Embraer EMB-110, explodes in mid-air over Panama, killing all 21 people on board. Investigators conclude that a suicide bomber caused the plane to explode, although motives and affiliation of the bomber remain unclear.
• September 8 – USAir Flight 427, a Boeing 737, crashes while attempting to land at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killing all 133 people on board. Investigations showed that a fault in the Boeing 737 rudder was to blame for the crash.
• October 31 – American Eagle Flight 4184, an ATR 72 turboprop, crashes while waiting to land at Chicago, Illinois, due to ice buildup on its wings. All 68 people on board die.
• December 11 – A bomb explodes on board Philippine Airlines Flight 434, a Boeing 747, killing one passenger, in a prelude to terrorist plot Oplan Bojinka. Despite subsequent difficulties in controlling the aircraft, the crew succeeds in making an emergency landing at Naha, Okinawa.
• December 24 – Air France Flight 8969, an Airbus A300, is hijacked on the tarmac at Algiers, Algeria by the militant group GIA. After a two-day standoff, the plane is allowed to fly to Marseille, France, where it is stormed by French commandos who kill the hijackers.

[edit] 1995

• March 31 – Tarom Flight 371, an Airbus A310, crashes near Baloteşti, Romania killing all 60 on board.
• June 5 – Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 crashes during a landing approach near Tararua Range, New Zealand killing four of the 21 people on board.
• August 21 – Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529, an Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia, crashes in a field near Carrollton, Georgia in the United States. Of the 29 people on board, ten are killed.
• December 18 – A Trans Service Airlift Lockheed L-188 Electra crashes after taking off from Jamba, Angola, due to overloading. Of the 144 people on board, 141 are killed.
• December 20 – American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain while approaching Santiago de Cali, Colombia. Of the 164 people on board, only 4 people and a dog survive.

[edit] 1996

• February 6 – Birgenair Flight 301, a Boeing 757 with 189 people on board, crashes into the ocean off Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic shortly after taking off. All of the passengers and crew members on board are killed.
• February 29 – Compañía de Aviación Faucett Flight 251, a Boeing 737, crashes into a hill while attempting to land at Arequipa, Peru. All 123 people on board die.
• May 11 – ValuJet Airlines Flight 592, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, crashes near Miami, Florida, due to a fire in its cargo hold. All 110 people on board are killed.
• July 17 – TWA Flight 800, a Boeing 747, explodes in mid-air above the ocean off East Moriches, New York, killing all 230 people on board.
• August 29 – Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801, a Tupolev Tu-154, crashes into a mountain on Spitsbergen, an island in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, killing all 141 on board.
• October 2 – Aeroperú Flight 603, a Boeing 757, crashes into the ocean off Pasamayo, Peru, due to a maintenance error. All 70 people on board are killed.
• October 31 – TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 402, a Fokker 100, crashes shortly after takeoff from Congonhas/São Paulo International Airport, Brazil, striking an apartment building and several houses. All 90 passengers and 6 crew members on board die. Three people are killed on the ground.
• November 12 – Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 763, a Boeing 747, collides in mid-air with Air Kazakhstan Flight 1907, an Ilyushin Il-76, near Charkhi Dadri, India. All 312 on board the Boeing 747 and all 37 on board the Ilyushin Il-76 die.
• November 23 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, a Boeing 767, is hijacked over Kenya. The aircraft runs out of fuel, and the pilot attempts to ditch the aircraft in the ocean off Moroni, Comoros. Of the 175 people on board, 123 are killed.

[edit] 1997

• January 9 – Comair Flight 3272, an Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia, crashes near Ida, Michigan during a snowstorm. All 29 on board die.
• May 8 – China Southern Airlines Flight 3456, a Boeing 737, makes a hard landing in Shenzhen, China during poor weather and crashes, killing 35 of the 74 people on board.
• August 6 – Korean Air Flight 801, a Boeing 747, crashes while attempting to land in heavy rain in Hagåtña, Guam. Of the 254 people on board, 228 die.
• September 26 – Garuda Indonesia Flight 152, an Airbus A300, crashes into a mountain near Buah Nabar, Indonesia killing all 234 on board.
• December 16 – Air Canada Flight 646, a Canadair CRJ-100, crashes after a failed go-around attempt in Fredericton, New Brunswick. All passengers and crew survive.
• December 19 – SilkAir Flight 185, a Boeing 737, crashes abruptly into the Musi River near Palembang, Indonesia, killing all 102 people on board.

[edit] 1998

• February 2 – Cebu Pacific Air Flight 387, a McDonnell-Douglas DC-9, crashes into a mountain near Pagalungan in the Philippines. The plane was flying an unfamiliar route not well documented in maps following an unscheduled stop in Leyte to drop off two mechanics. All 104 passengers and crew members are killed.
• February 16 – China Airlines Flight 676, an Airbus A300, crashes into a residential area while attempting to land in Taipei, Taiwan. All 196 people on board are killed, in addition to seven on the ground.
• March 22 – Philippine Airlines Flight 137, an Airbus A320, overshoots the end of the runway while landing at Bacolod City in the Philippines, plowing through several houses. None of the passengers were harmed, but three people on the ground were killed and several more injured.
• September 2 – Swissair Flight 111, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, crashes into the sea near Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada, due to an onboard fire. All 229 people on board perish.
• December 11 – Thai Airways Flight 261, an Airbus A310, crashes during poor weather near Surat Thani, Thailand. Of the 146 people on board, 102 are killed.

[edit] 1999

• June 1 – American Airlines Flight 1420, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, skids off the runway on landing at Little Rock, Arkansas during strong winds. Eleven of 145 on board die.
• July 24 – All Nippon Airways Flight 61, a Boeing 747, is hijacked by a passenger, Yuji Nishizawa, wielding a knife. After fatally stabbing the captain, he is overpowered by the crew. The first officer lands the plane safely at Haneda, Japan.
• August 22 – China Airlines Flight 642, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, crashes on landing at Hong Kong International Airport during Tropical Storm Sam. Of the 315 people on board, three die.
• August 31 – LAPA Flight 3142, a Boeing 737, overshoots the runway in Buenos Aires, Argentina and crashes into a golf course. Of the 103 people on board, 64 are killed as well as ten on the ground.
• September 14 – Britannia Airways Flight BY226A, a Boeing 757, veers off the runway at Gerona, Spain while landing in a thunderstorm and comes to rest in a field, broken apart in two places.
• September 23 – Qantas Flight 1, a Boeing 747, overshoots the runway upon landing in Bangkok, Thailand. None of the 410 people on board is seriously injured.
• October 31 – EgyptAir Flight 990, a Boeing 767 on its way to Cairo, Egypt, is deliberately crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Nantucket, Massachusetts. All 217 passengers and crew members on board are killed.
• November 9 – TAESA Flight 725, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, crashes near Uruapan, Mexico killing all 18 on board.
• December 24 – Indian Airlines Flight 814, an Airbus A300, is hijacked en route to Delhi, India. After stopovers in Amritsar, Lahore, and Dubai, it lands in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where after several days of negotiations, all the hostages are released in exchange for the release of three senior Islamic terrorists held by India. One passenger was killed by the hijackers.

2000

• January 10 – Crossair Flight 498, a Saab 340, crashes two minutes after takeoff in Niederhasli, Switzerland, killing all ten people on-board.
• January 30 – Kenya Airways Flight 431, an Airbus A310, carrying 169 passengers and 10 crew members, crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off Côte d'Ivoire after takeoff from Abidjan. Only ten people survive.
• January 31 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261, an MD-83, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off Point Mugu, California after problems with its horizontal stabilizer. All 83 passengers and 5 crew members are killed.
• March 5 – Southwest Airlines Flight 1455, a Boeing 737, overruns the runway in Burbank, California. Of the 142 people on board, 43 are injured, two seriously.
• July 17 – Alliance Air Flight 7412, a Boeing 737, crashes into government housing in Patna, India as it approaches the airport, killing 55 of the 58 on board and five people on the ground.
• July 25 – Air France Flight 4590, an Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde, crashes during takeoff from Paris, France after its fuel tank catches fire. All 9 crew members and 100 passengers are killed as well as four people on the ground. This crash led to the Concorde's being grounded for two years, and, indirectly, to its eventual retirement.
• August 23 – Gulf Air Flight 072, an Airbus A320, crashes into the Persian Gulf off Manama, Bahrain while attempting to land. All 143 passengers and eight crew members are killed.
• October 31 – Singapore Airlines Flight 006, a Boeing 747, strikes construction equipment after using a closed runway for takeoff in Taipei, Taiwan and crashes, killing 83 out of 179 people on board.

[edit] 2001

• August 24 – Air Transat Flight 236 runs out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean and makes an emergency landing in the Azores. Upon landing some of the tires blow out, causing a fire that is extinguished by emergency personnel on the ground. None of the 304 people on board the Airbus A330 are seriously injured.

The fireball caused by American Airlines Flight 77 as it hits the Pentagon

• September 11 – September 11, 2001 attacks
  • American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 with 92 people on board, is hijacked after taking off from Boston, and is flown into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. All on board are killed as well as many more on the ground and in the building.
  • United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767 with 65 people on board, is hijacked after taking off from Boston and is flown into the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. All on board are killed as well as many more on the ground and in the building. The collapse of both towers brings the total death toll from the two crashes to at least 2,759 including the hijackers and 343 firefighters.
  • American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 with 64 people on board, is hijacked after taking off from Dulles International Airport and is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. All on board are killed as well as 125 people in the building and on the ground.
  • United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with 44 people on board, is hijacked after taking off from Newark, New Jersey. After passengers struggle with the hijackers, the aircraft crashes in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all on board.
• October 4 – Siberia Airlines Flight 1812, a Tupolev Tu-154, is shot down by a Ukrainian missile over the Black Sea. All 66 passengers and 12 crew members are killed.
• October 8 – SAS Flight 686, a DC-9, crashes into a Cessna business jet on takeoff from Milan, Italy. The DC-9 then swerves into a baggage handling building and catches fire. All 110 people on board Flight 686 die as well as all four in the Cessna. Four people on the ground are also killed.
• November 12 – American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300, crashes into a Queens neighborhood in New York City when the plane's vertical tail fin snaps just after takeoff. All 251 passengers and nine crew members on board are killed as well as five people on the ground.
• November 24 – Crossair Flight 3597, a BAe 146, crashes at Birchwil, Switzerland, while attempting to land in Zürich. Of the 28 passenger and five crew members on board, 21 passengers and three crew members die.
• December 22 – On board American Airlines Flight 63, a Boeing 767, a passenger, Richard Reid, attempts to detonate explosives hidden in his shoe, but fails and is subdued by passengers and crew. The plane lands safely in Boston.

[edit] 2002

• January 14 – Lion Air Flight JT-386, a Boeing 737, crashes while attempting to take off from Riau, Indonesia. All 103 on board survive.
• February 27 – Ryanair Flight 296, a Boeing 737, catches fire on one of its engines while landing in London. All passengers and crew are safely evacuated with no injuries.
• April 15 – Air China Flight 129, a Boeing 767, crashes into a hill during a landing attempt at Busan, South Korea in misty conditions. Of the 155 passengers and 11 crew, 38 survive.
• May 7 – China Northern Airlines Flight 6136, an MD-82, crashes near Dalian, China, after a passenger sets fire to the cabin with gasoline. All 103 passengers and 9 crew members are killed.
• May 25 – China Airlines Flight 611, a Boeing 747, disintegrates above the Taiwan Strait, apparently due to metal fatigue. All 206 passengers and 19 crew members are killed.
• July 1 – Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154 with 57 passengers and 14 crew members on board, collides with a DHL Boeing 757 cargo plane with 2 pilots on board near Lake Constance, Germany. All people on both planes perish.
• July 1 – America West Airlines Flight 556, an Airbus 319, is ordered back to the terminal at Miami, Florida after security screeners report that the pilots are intoxicated. The passengers are allowed to fly to Phoenix, Arizona on other airlines. The pilots are eventually given prison sentences.
• November 6 – Luxair Flight 9642, a Fokker 50, crashes short of the runway while landing near Niederanven, Luxembourg in foggy conditions. Of the 19 passengers and three crew members on board, only two survive.

[edit] 2003

• January 8 – Air Midwest Flight 5481, a Beechcraft 1900, crashes on takeoff from Charlotte North Carolina in the United States; all 19 passengers and 2 pilots are killed.
• March 6 – Air Algerie Flight 6289, a Boeing 737, veers off the runway on takeoff in Tamanrasset, Algeria; 96 of the 97 passengers and all 6 crew members perish.
• May 29 – A man attempts to hijack QantasLink Flight 1737 in Melbourne, Australia, intending to crash the plane in Tasmania. He is overpowered by the flight crew and passengers, but injures three people.
• November 22 – A DHL Airbus A300 is struck by a missile near Baghdad, Iraq and loses hydraulic system function, but manages to land safely without any fatalities. This is the first safe landing of an airliner without control surfaces.
• December 25 – Union des Transports Aériens de Guinée Flight 141, a Boeing 727, overshoots the runway upon landing at Cotonou, Benin and crashes onto the beach on the Bight of Benin, killing 151 of the 163 occupants.

[edit] 2004

• January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 604, a Boeing 737, crashes into the Red Sea, killing all 135 passengers and 13 crew members.
• May 9 – American Eagle Flight 5401 is damaged by high winds during landing in San Juan, Puerto Rico, injuring 13 people.
• August 13 – Air Tahoma Flight 185, a Convair 580, crashes near Covington, Kentucky while descending to land, killing the first officer.
• August 24 – Russian aircraft bombings of August 2004:
  • Siberia Airlines Flight 1047, a Tupolev Tu-154, explodes in mid-air while flying over Rostov Oblast, Russia killing all 38 passengers and 8 crew members on board.
  • Volga-AviaExpress Flight 1303, a Tupolev Tu-134, explodes in mid-air while flying over Tula Oblast, Russia killing all 34 passengers and 9 crew members on board.
• October 19 – Corporate Airlines Flight 5966, a Handley Page Jetstream, crashes near Kirksville, Missouri in the United States; 13 of the 15 people on board die.
• November 21 – China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210 crashes near Baotou, China after takeoff due to snow and ice on the control surfaces. All 53 on board and two people on the ground are killed.
• November 30 – Lion Air Flight 538, a DC-9, crash-lands in Solo City, Indonesia, killing 25 of the 154 people on board.

[edit] 2005


The burnt-out wreckage of Flight 358 at Toronto Pearson International Airport

• February 3 – Kam Air Flight 904, a Boeing 737, crashes in a snowstorm in Afghanistan. All 96 passengers and eight crew members die.
• May 3 – Airwork Flight 23, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner crashes in Taranaki, New Zealand killing both crew members.
• June 9 – US Airways Flight 1170 and Aer Lingus Flight 132 almost collide on a runway at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. None of the 381 people on either planes are harmed.
• August 2 – Air France Flight 358, an Airbus A340, skids off a runway in Toronto, Ontario, while landing and catches fire; all 309 on board escape without fatalities or serious injuries, but the aircraft is completely destroyed by the fire.
• August 10 – A Copterline Sikorsky S-76 helicopter crashes off Tallinn, Estonia killing all 14 on board.
• August 14 – Helios Airways Flight 522, a Boeing 737, crashes near Kalamos, Greece with 115 passengers and 6 crew members on board; there are no survivors.
• August 16 – West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, an MD-82, crashes in western Venezuela. All on board, 152 passengers and 8 crew members, die.
• August 23 – TANS Peru Flight 204, a Boeing 737, crashes near Pucallpa, Peru. Forty of the 92 passengers on board, as well as four of the six crew members, perish.
• September 5 – Mandala Airlines Flight 091, a Boeing 737, crashes in Medan, Indonesia, killing 103 of the 111 passengers and all 5 crew members on the plane and an additional 47 people on the ground.

JetBlue Airways Flight 292 upon landing in Los Angeles

• September 21 – JetBlue Airways Flight 292, an Airbus A320, makes an emergency landing in Los Angeles, California in the United States. There are no injuries to the 139 passengers and six crew members.
• October 22 – Bellview Airlines Flight 210, a Boeing 737, crashes in central Nigeria, killing all 117 people on board.
• December 7 – A passenger disembarking American Airlines Flight 924, a Boeing 757, in Miami, Florida is shot and killed by an air marshal when the marshal believes that he hears the man say that he has a bomb.
• December 8 – Southwest Airlines Flight 1248, a Boeing 737, slides off the runway during landing at Chicago Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois in heavy snow. None of the people on board are injured, but the plane hits two automobiles on the ground, killing a six-year-old boy.
• December 10 – Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145, a DC-9 with 110 people on board, crashes during landing in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. 107 people die.
• December 19 – Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101, a Grumman Mallard, crashes off the coast of Miami Beach, Florida, killing all 20 on board.

[edit] 2006

• May 3 – Armavia Flight 967, an Airbus A320, crashes into the Black Sea near the Russian city of Sochi, killing all 113 on board.
• July 9 – S7 Airlines Flight 778, an Airbus A310, crashes into a concrete barricade and catches fire on landing in Irkutsk, Russia. Of the 203 people on board, 128 are killed.
• July 10 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 688, a Fokker F27, crashes into a wheat field near Multan, Pakistan ten minutes after taking off, killing all 41 passengers and 4 crew members on board.
• August 22 – Pulkovo Airlines Flight 612, a Tupolev Tu-154, crashes near Donetsk, Ukraine, killing all 170 people on board.
• August 27 – Comair Flight 5191, a CRJ-100, crashes during takeoff near Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49 of the 50 people on board.
• September 1 – An Iran Air Tours Tu-154 carrying 148 people crashes while attempting to land in Mashad, Iran killing 28 people.
• September 29 – Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907, a Boeing 737, collides with an Embraer Legacy business jet and crashes in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The Embraer Legacy, with seven on board, lands safely with no reported injuries. All 154 people on board the Boeing 737 perish.
• October 3 – Turkish Airlines Flight 1476, a Boeing 737, is hijacked over Greece. The plane lands in Brindisi, Italy. None of the 113 people on board are hurt.
• October 10 – Atlantic Airways Flight 670, a BAe 146, slides off the runway at Stord, Norway, killing four of the 16 people on board.
• October 29 – ADC Airlines Flight 53, a Boeing 737, crashes near Abuja, Nigeria, killing 97 of the 104 people on board.

[edit] 2007

• January 1 – Adam Air Flight 574, a Boeing 737 with 102 people on board, crashes into the ocean off the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, killing all on board.
• January 9 – An AerianTur-M Antonov An-26 crashes near Balad, Iraq, killing 34 of the 35 people on board. The official cause of the crash is poor weather conditions, but other sources claim that the plane was shot down by a missile.
• January 24 – Air West Flight 612, a Boeing 737 with 103 people on board, is hijacked over Sudan shortly after taking off from Khartoum, but lands safely in N'Djamena, Chad.
• February 15 – An Air Mauritanie Boeing 737 is hijacked after taking off from Nouakchott, Mauritania, but lands safely in Las Palmas, Spain without any serious injuries among the 79 people aboard.
• February 21 – Adam Air Flight 172, a Boeing 737, suffers structural damage while landing near Surabaya, Indonesia. None of the 149 people on board are seriously injured.
• March 7 – Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, a Boeing 737, overshoots the runway and crashes while landing at Yogyakarta, Indonesia, killing 22 of 140 people on board.
• March 17 – UTair Aviation Flight 471, a Tupolev Tu-134, suffers severe structural damage while landing in Samara, Russia, killing six of the 63 people on board.
• March 23 – A TransAVIAexport Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 crashes in Mogadishu, Somalia killing all 11 on board; the plane, which crashes during the Battle of Mogadishu, is thought to have been shot down.
• March 30 – A Sudan Airways flight with 284 people on board is hijacked but lands safely in Khartoum, Sudan.

The wreckage of TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054

• May 5 – Kenya Airways Flight 507, a Boeing 737 with 114 people on board, crashes near Douala, Cameroon killing everyone on board.
• June 3 – A Paramount Airlines Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashes in Lungi, Sierra Leone killing all 22 people on board.
• June 25 – PMTair Flight 241, an Antonov An-24, crashes in southwestern Cambodia killing all 22 on board.
• July 17 – TAM Linhas Aéreas Flight 3054, an Airbus A320, crashes in Congonhas Airport, in São Paulo, Brazil killing all 187 people on board and 12 on the ground.
• August 9 – An Air Moorea de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter crashes on the island of Moorea in French Polynesia with 20 people on board. Fourteen bodies have been found, but no survivors were located.

[edit] See also

• List of accidents causing 20+ fatalities
• List of hijackings
• List of sole survivors of air disasters

[edit] External links

• Federal Aviation Administration (US) Preliminary Accident and Incident Reports
• Air Accidents Investigation Branch (UK)
• Aviation Safety Network
• Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre
• Timeline of air disasters at BBC News
• PlaneCrashInfo.com
• AirDisaster.com Accident Database

Iran said they are buying 100 Russian planes

Expect a lot more crashes!

Thanks for the good news Captain Gloom!

Iran to buy 100 Russian Topolov-204 and Topolov-214 planes
TEHRAN, March. 01 (ISNA)-Iran is to purchase 100 Russian Topolov-204 and Topolov-214 planes during the next 10 years.
An agreement for 2 to 2.5 billion dollars will be signed in May including both export of the planes and permission for assembly in Iran and Russia. But experts believe Iran does not have enough time to assemble the planes. Another agreement is supposed to be signed for servicing and repairing the planes and also purchase of 5 Topolov-334 in 5 years. A board of Russia's corporation for plane producing visited HESA plane factory and IACI foundation in Iran which produce plane engines. That is while the Russian side doubts Iran's ability for producing 68 Topolov-204 and Topolov-214 by 2010 in Iran.

Tupolev 204: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_204