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This article is a list of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft and is grouped by the years in which the accidents and incidents occurred.
August 18 – An Air UnionBlériot 155crashes while attempting an emergency landing at College Farm, Hurst, Aldington due to engine failure, killing 3 of 15 on board; the pilot initially survives, but dies a day later.
July 13 – An Imperial AirwaysVickers Vulcancrashes on a test flight from Croydon Airport with a pilot and five passengers near Purley, Surrey three miles from the airport, with the loss of four passengers. As a result of the crash Imperial Airways stopped the flying of staff (so called joy rides) on test flights.
July 21 – A Walcot Air Line Junkers F.13crashes following structural failure at Meopham, Kent, United Kingdom, killing all six on board.
October 5 – The British airship R101 crashes north of Paris, killing 48 people in the ensuing fire.
1931
March 21 – Australian National AirwaysSouthern Cloud, an Avro 618 Ten, crashes in the Snowy Mountains while flying from Sydney to Melbourne, killing all eight on board, in Australia's first significant airline disaster; the crash site remains undiscovered for 27 years; severe weather at the time of the flight is the likely cause of the accident.
January 21 – An Imperial AirwaysShort Empire flying boat named Cavalier makes an emergency landing 285 mi southeast of New York due to loss of power and later sinks; 3 of 12 on board die.
January 30 – A QantasShort Empire, registered G-AEUH, is shot down by seven Japanese fighters and crashes 13 nmi (24 km) from East Timor; 13 of 18 on board die.
July 28 – American AirlinesFlight 63, a Douglas DC-3, loses control due to severe turbulence and violent downdrafts and crashes near Trammel, Kentucky, killing twenty out of twenty-two people on board.
October 15 – American AirlinesFlight 63, a DC-3, crashes near Centerville, Tennessee, killing all eight passengers and three crewmembers, after ice formed on its wings and propeller.
November 3 – The prototype Boeing 314, named the Honolulu Clipper, makes an emergency landing in the Pacific 650 miles east of Oahu due to double engine failure; the aircraft is intentionally sunk after salvage was deemed impractical; all 26 passengers on board survive.
August 12 – A British South American AirwaysAvro Lancastrian named Star Dust disappears over the Andes after transmitting an enigmatic coded message ("STENDEC"); the fate of the plane remained a mystery until the crash site was located in 2000; four crew and nine passengers are killed.
July 17 – Miss Macao, a Catalina seaplane operated by a Cathay Pacific subsidiary, over the Pearl River delta from Macau to Hong Kong, is hijacked with 23 passengers and three crew on board by a group attempting to rob the passengers; following a struggle in the cockpit, a crash kills all on board except one passenger, later identified as the lead hijacker; this is the earliest known airliner hijacking.
August 29 – Northwest AirlinesFlight 421, a Martin 2-0-2, crashes near Winona, Minnesota due to structural failure of a wing, killing all 37 on board in the worst ever accident involving the Martin 2-0-2. This crash is also the first loss of a 2-0-2.
November 20 – In the Hurum air disaster, an Aero Holland Douglas DC-3 crashes near Hurum, Norway, killing 34 of the 35 on board, including 25 Jewish children.
November 29 – American AirlinesFlight 157, a Douglas DC-6 en route from New York City to Mexico City with 46 passengers and crew, veers off the runway and strikes buildings after the flight crew loses control on final approach to Dallas Love Field; 26 passengers and 2 flight attendants die.
March 12 – The Llandow air disaster: An Airflight Avro 689 Tudor V stalls and crashes after the rear cargo hold was overloaded, resulting in a center of gravity exceeding the aft limit; 80 out of the 83 people on board die, at the time the worst air disaster in history.
June 12 – An Air FranceDouglas DC-4 (F-BBDE) on a flight from Saigon to Paris crashes in the Arabian Sea while on approach to Bahrain Airport, killing 46 of 52 on board.
June 14 – An Air FranceDouglas DC-4, F-BBDM, crashes in the Arabian Sea while on approach to Bahrain Airport, killing 40 of 53 on board. This aircraft was operating on the same flight route as F-BBDE.
August 31 – TWAFlight 903, a Lockheed L-749A Constellation, crashes because of an engine fire, in the desert about 65 miles (105 km) NNW of Cairo, Egypt; all 55 on board are killed in the worst ever accident involving the Lockheed L-749.
November 13 – A Curtiss Reid Flying Services-operated C-54 Skymastercrashes 30 mi (48 km) from Grenoble, France on the Tete de I'Obiou mountain; all 52 passengers and crew die.
1951
March 27 – A Douglas C-47A-75-DL Dakota 3 cargo aircraft operated by Air Transport Charter and en route to Nutts Corner Airport, Antrim, Northern Ireland, crashes shortly after take-off following the aircraft's failure to gain height, killing two of the three crew and two of the three passengers.
June 28 – American AirlinesFlight 910, a Douglas DC-6 carrying 55 passengers and 5 crew collides with a Temco Swift private plane on final approach to Dallas Love Field, killing both occupants of the Swift; the DC-6 lands safely with no injuries to the passengers or crew.
January 10 – BOACFlight 781, a de Havilland Comet flying from Rome to London on the last leg of a flight from Singapore, disintegrates in mid-air, when metal fatigue from repeated pressurization cycles compromises the fuselage, killing the 29 passengers and six crew.
April 8 – South African AirwaysFlight 201, a de Havilland Comet flying from Rome to Cairo bound for Johannesburg, disintegrates in mid-air, killing all 14 passengers and seven crew; as in BOAC Flight 781, the cause is metal fatigue at stress risers at the corners of the square windows in the aluminum skin; subsequently, all pressurized aircraft windows are constructed with wide radius corners.
June 24 – A BOACCanadair C-4 Argonaut, G-ALHE, crashes shortly after taking off from Kano Airport, Nigeria into a thunderstorm, killing 32 of the 38 passengers and 3 of the seven crew.
June 30 – United Airlines Flight 718, a DC-7, collides with TWA Flight 2, a Lockheed Constellation, over the Grand Canyon, killing all 128 aboard both planes; operating under VFR, the planes fail to see each other; the Federal Aviation Administration is created in the aftermath; the FAA establishes new rules for passenger carriers, among them the requirement to operate under IFR, even in good weather.
February 17 – A Turkish AirlinesVickers Viscount 793 charter flight carrying the Turkish prime minister and other government officials crashes in heavy fog during its final approach into London Gatwick Airport; five of the eight crew and nine of the sixteen passengers die in the accident; Prime Minister Adnan Menderes is among the ten survivors.
October 30 – Piedmont AirlinesFlight 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 is seriously injured; the cause is a navigational error during an ILS approach.
June 10 – Trans Australia AirlinesFlight 538, a Fokker F-27, crashes into the ocean near Mackay, Queensland, Australia, killing all 29 on board in Australia's worst civilian air disaster. This crash was responsible for the mandatory installation of CVRs in airliners in Australia, followed by the rest of the world.
February 15 – SabenaFlight 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 of the first fatal accident involving a 707 in regular passenger service.
June 3 – Air FranceFlight 007, a chartered Boeing 707, skids and burns after the pilot rejects takeoff, killing many of Atlanta, Georgia's civic and cultural leaders; two flight attendants are the only survivors, as 130 die in the worst one-aircraft accident to that date.
June 22 – Air FranceFlight 117, an international scheduled multi-leg Boeing 707 crashes in a forest hill on the island of Guadeloupe, while approaching Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport; 113 die in that accident with no survivors; the worst accident in Guadeloupe; the cause of the crash is never determined.
June 30 – An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-104, registered SSSR-42370, is shot down by a missile near Voznesenka, Krasnoyarsk krai; all 84 die in Russia's worst air accident at that time.
February 12 – Northwest Orient AirlinesFlight 705, a Boeing 720, breaks up in turbulance associated with a severe thunderstorm and crashes into the Everglades; all 43 passengers and crew die in the first fatal crash involving a 720 in regular passenger service.
November 15 – Bonanza Air LinesFlight 114, a Fairchild F27, slams into a mountain in poor weather while on a nighttime approach to Las Vegas, Nevada; all 29 aboard perish when the plane crashes only 10 feet (3 m) below a ridge; initially blamed on a pilot's misreading his approach chart, years later the chart maker agrees to pay a settlement of US$490,000 to some of the victims' heirs after it is shown the chart had incorrect markings.
July 10 – A Skyways Coach-AirAvro 748crashes on landing at Lympne Airport, Kent, United Kingdom due to a waterlogged runway; all 52 on board survive; this crash marks the first loss of the Avro 748/HS 748.
August 16 – United AirlinesFlight 389, a Boeing 727, crashes into Lake Michigan at night, after the pilots apparently misread their altimeters; all 24 passengers and six crew perish in the first fatal crash of the Boeing 727.
March 13 – South African AirwaysFlight 406, a Vickers Viscount 818, crashes into the sea while on approach to East London, South Africa, killing all 25 passengers and crew on board. The pilot of the plane suffered a fatal heart attack while on approach and the co-pilot was unable to regain control of the aircraft.
April 8 – BOACFlight 712, a Boeing 707, suffers an engine fire after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport; the plane makes an emergency landing at Heathrow, but five of 127 aboard die in the resulting fire.
July 3 – In the 1968 BKS Air Transport Heathrow crash, an Airspeed Ambassador freight aircraft experiences metal fatigue and crashes while landing, striking two unoccupied British European Airways airliners. Six of the freighter's crew of eight are killed, as are eight racehorses being transported. All Airspeed Ambassadors are grounded until a redesign strengthens the flaps. One of the BEA aircraft is repaired but is lost in the 1972 Staines air disaster.
July 23 – Three members of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijack El Al Flight 426 from Rome to Tel Aviv. Diverting to Algiers the negotiations extend over forty days. Both the hijackers and the hostages go free.
November 24 – Luis Armando Pena Soltren, Jose Rafael Rios Cruz and Miguel Castro coerce the pilot of Pan Am Flight 281 out of New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on a scheduled route to Puerto Rico to divert to Havana, Cuba. Passengers were evacuated from Cuba by a U.S. State Department aircraft. There were no fatalities.
March 16 – Venezolana Internacional de Aviación, Sociedad Anónima ("Viasa") Flight 742, a McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-30, crashes on takeoff from Aeropuerto Grano de Oro, Maracaibo, Venezuela. All 84 passengers on board, plus 71 people on the ground were killed in the crash. At 155 people dead, it was the worst aviation disaster in history at that time.
December 11 – A Korean Air Lines-operated NAMC YS-11 with 54 on board is hijacked by a North Korean agent and is diverted to North Korea; thirty-nine of the passengers were released in early 1970, but the seven remaining passengers, the crew, and the aircraft (which is written off) are never returned.
August 9 – LANSAFlight 502, a Lockheed Electra turboprop, crashes and burns shortly after takeoff from Cuzco, Peru, killing 99 people on the plane and two on the ground; among the dead are 49 U.S. high school exchange students.
July 30 – ANAFlight 58, a Boeing 727-200, collides with a JSDF F-86 fighter jet at Shizukuishi near Morioka, Japan, killing all 162 passengers and crew; the JSDF pilot parachutes to safety, and is later arrested by local police on suspicion of colliding with a civilian aircraft.
July 30 – Pan American AirwaysFlight 845, a Boeing 747-100, attempts to take off from San Francisco at the wrong speed, over-running the runway and colliding with approach lighting structures; the aircraft sustains damage to flight control and other systems, but becomes airborne, circles over the ocean to dump fuel, and lands back in San Francisco; of the 218 on board, 29 are injured, 10 seriously.
November 24 – A man reported as D. B. Cooper hijacks Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, a Boeing 727, out of Portland, Oregon, releasing 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 and his fate remains unknown, although a roll of bills from his ransom is found in a riverbed many years later.
December 24 – LANSAFlight 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; one German teenage girl, Juliane Koepcke, survives after falling two miles (3 km) down into the Amazon rainforest strapped to her seat; she walks through the jungle for 10 days until being rescued by local lumbermen.
June 15 – A carry-on suitcase bomb explodes on Cathay PacificFlight 700Z, a Convair 880, at 29,000 feet (8,800 m) over Vietnam; all 81 on board perish.
August 14 – An InterflugIlyushin Il-62, registered DM-SEA, crashes near Königs Wusterhausen, all 156 passengers and crew are killed in Germany's worst air disaster.
December 8 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631 Entered a heavy rainstorm on an approach and crashed into a hillside. The airliner broke into three pieces. All 26 people aboard perished on the hillside.
January 22- a Boeing 707-3D3C crashed while attempting to land at Kano International Airport in Nigeria. 176 of the 202 passengers and crew on board were killed. At the time it was the worst aviation disaster in history.
July 23 – Japan Air LinesFlight 404, a Boeing 747, is hijacked after takeoff from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands; one hijacker is killed and the flight's purser injured by a grenade blast; after several days and multiple flight legs, the passengers are released in Benghazi, Libya and the aircraft is blown up on the ground; this is the first loss of a Boeing 747-200.
August 13 – AviacoFlight 118, a Sud Caravelle en-route from Madrid to A Coruña crashes while approaching A Coruña Alvedro airport, in Montrove, 2 km from the airport; all 85 on board died, and 1 on the ground.
April 18 – Court LineFlight 95, a BAC One-Eleven, collides with a Piper Aztec on the runway at London Luton Airport, killing the pilot of the Aztec; there are no casualties on board the One-Eleven, but the aircraft is substantially damaged; the Aztec is written off.
December 4 – MartinairFlight 138, a Douglas DC-8 on a charter flight, crashed into a mountain shortly before landing, on approach to Katunayake, Sri Lanka for a refueling stop; killing all aboard – 182 Indonesian hajj pilgrims bound for Mecca, and 9 crew members.
December 22 – AVENSA Flight 358, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, suffers dual engine failure after takeoff and crashes near Maturín, Venezuela, killing all 77 on board; the cause is never determined.
August 15 – SAETAFlight 232, a Vickers Viscount 785D, goes missing mid-route from Quito to Cuenca, Ecuador; all 4 crew members and 55 passengers are killed, but the scene remains undiscovered for 26 years until October 17, 2002, when climbers on the eastern face of the stratovolcano Chimborazo come upon the site.
December 25 – EgyptAirFlight 864, a Boeing 707, crashes into an industrial complex near Bangkok, Thailand due to pilot error; all 52 on board are killed as well as another 19 on the ground.
April 4 – Southern AirwaysFlight 242, a Douglas DC-9, crash-lands on a highway near New Hope, Georgia after dual engine failure encountered in a thunderstorm; 63 out of 85 aboard are killed, along with 9 people on the ground.
May 27 – An AeroflotIlyushin Il-62crashes on approach in Havana, Cuba; 68 out of 70 people on board are killed plus one person on the ground. It remains the second-worst air accident in Cuba's history.
September 28 – Japan Air LinesFlight 472, a Douglas DC-8, is hijacked after taking off from Mumbai, India by Japanese Red Army (JRA) terrorists, who 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 – LufthansaFlight 181, a Boeing 737, is hijacked by four Palestinian members of the PFLP, who kill the captain; subsequently, German police commandos from GSG 9 storm the aircraft, killing three of the hijackers and capturing the fourth, with no other casualties.
January 1 – Air IndiaFlight 855, a Boeing 747, crashes into the Arabian Sea as a result of instrument malfunction and pilot error; all 213 passengers and crew die.
April 20 – Korean Air LinesFlight 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 were subsequently released.
September 3 – Air RhodesiaFlight 825 from Kariba to Salisbury is shot down by a SA-7 surface-to-air missile; eighteen of the fifty-six passengers initially survive the emergency landing, 10 are subsequently killed by ZIPRA militants.
December 28 – United AirlinesFlight 173, a Douglas DC-8, runs out of fuel while circling near Portland, Oregon, United States, as the crew investigates 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.
February 12 – Air RhodesiaFlight 827, a scheduled civilian flight between Kariba and Salisbury is shot down by ZIPRA militants using a SA-7 (Strela 2) surface-to-air missile soon after take off in similar circumstances to Flight 825 five month earlier; all 55 passengers and 4 crew are killed.
March 14 – LOT Polish AirlinesFlight 7, an Ilyushin Il-62, crashes near Warsaw, Poland after the No. 2 engine disintegrates and severs the elevator and rudder control lines; all 87 on board are killed.
April 25 – Dan-AirFlight 1008, a Boeing 727, crashes into a mountain near Tenerife, Spain; all 138 passengers and eight crew die.
December 22 – SaudiaFlight 162, a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, suffers an explosive decompression over Qatar, killing two passengers who were thrown out of the aircraft; the cause is traced to a fatigue failure of a main landing gear wheel flange.
June 24 – British AirwaysFlight 9, 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.
January 16 – Turkish AirlinesFlight 158, a Boeing 727-2F2, lands about 50 m (160 ft) short of the runway at Ankara Esenboğa Airport, Turkey in driving snow, breaks up and catches fire; 47 passengers are killed, all seven crew and 13 passengers survive the accident with injuries.
July 16 – A British AirwaysSikorsky S-61 helicopter crashes into the sea off the Isles of Scilly; 20 of 26 people on board die, in the worst helicopter accident in the United Kingdom to this date and sparking a review of helicopter safety.
July 23 – Air CanadaFlight 143, a Boeing 767, runs out of fuel above Manitoba because of a miscalculation; the crew successfully glides the aircraft to a safe landing at a former Air Force base (and current drag strip) at Gimli, Manitoba; the aircraft becomes known as the Gimli Glider.
November 18 – AeroflotFlight 6833, a Tupolev Tu-134, is hijacked by seven Georgians attempting to defect from the Soviet Union; the aircraft is stormed by Alpha Group who arrest four hijackers; three are executed while the fourth receives a jail sentence; of the 71 on board (including the hijackers), eight die; the aircraft is written off.
November 27 – AviancaFlight 11, a Boeing 747, strikes a hill because of a navigational error while attempting to land in Madrid, Spain; of the 192 passengers and crew aboard, 11 survive.
March 22 – Pacific Western AirlinesFlight 501, a Boeing 737, suffers an uncontained engine failure during takeoff from Calgary; all passengers and crew were safely evacuated, but the plane burns to the ground.
August 30 – Cameroon AirlinesFlight 786, a Boeing 737 with 109 passengers and 7 crew on board, suffers an uncontained engine failure during taxi for take-off at the Douala, Cameroon airport, starting a fire; two persons die as the plane burns to the ground.
January 21 – Galaxy AirlinesFlight 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 – Iberia AirlinesFlight 610, a Boeing 727, crashed into a television antenna installed on the summit of Monte Oiz while landing in Bilbao, Spain. All 141 passengers and 7 crew died in the crash.
June 21 – Braathens SAFEFlight 139, a Boeing 737, is hijacked by Stein Arvid Huseby, who demands to make a political statement; all crew and passengers survive.
July 10 – AeroflotFlight 7425, a Tupolev Tu-154B, stalls while cruising at 38,000 feet (11,600 m) and enters an unrecoverable spin, killing all 200 aboard.
August 12 – Japan Air LinesFlight 123, a Boeing 747, crashes into Mount Osutaka after catastrophic failure of the tailplane severs all hydraulic lines and renders the aircraft uncontrollable. 520 of 524 people on board are killed. To date, it is the worst single-aircraft disaster in history.
August 22 – British AirtoursFlight 28M, a Boeing 737, aborts its takeoff from Manchester, England because of an engine fire. While 82 passengers and crew escape alive, 55 are killed, most from smoke inhalation.
November 23 – EgyptAirFlight 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 AirFlight 1285, a Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing all 256 passengers and crew on board, making it currently the worst air disaster to occur in Canada; the cause is determined to be a stall most likely caused by wing icing.
1986
AeroMéxico Flight 498 falling to the ground immediately after a mid-air collision with a Piper Cherokee.
March 31 – MexicanaFlight 940, a Boeing 727, crashes into high ground near Santiago Maravatío, Mexico. All 167 passengers and crew are killed in the worst ever air disaster involving the Boeing 727.
September 5 – Pan AmFlight 73, a Boeing 747, is hijacked on the ground at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, by Palestinian militants. About twenty passengers and crew out of 379 on board die during a shootout inside the plane.
December 25 – Iraqi AirwaysFlight 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.
1987
January 3 – VarigFlight 797, a Boeing 707, crashes near Abidjan because of engine failure. Out of the 52 passengers and crew on board, there was only 1 survivor.
August 31 – Thai AirwaysFlight 365, a Boeing 737, crashes into the ocean off the coast of Thailand as a result of pilot error. All 83 passengers and crew perish.
September 15 – Ethiopian AirlinesFlight 604, a Boeing 737, crashes on takeoff after suffering multiple bird strikes, 35 of 98 passengers die, all 6 crew survive.
October 19 – Indian AirlinesFlight 113, a Boeing 737, hits an electric mast 5 miles (8 kilometers) out on approach in poor visibility in Ahmedabad, India. All six crew members and 124 of 129 passengers are killed.
December 21 – Pan AmFlight 103, a Boeing 747, disintegrates in the air over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland after a terrorist bomb explodes on board. All 259 people on board and 11 on the ground are killed. The incident is also known as the Lockerbie air disaster.
1989
January 8 – British MidlandFlight 92, a Boeing 737, crashes near Kegworth, Leicestershire, United Kingdom 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 and is the first loss of a Boeing 737-400.
February 24 – United AirlinesFlight 811, a Boeing 747, suffers an explosive decompression shortly after takeoff from Honolulu, Hawaii, United States caused by a cargo door which burst open during flight. Of 355 people on board, nine passengers are sucked out of the plane, but the crew manage to land safely at Honolulu.
September 3 – VarigFlight 254, a Boeing 737, runs out of fuel because of incorrect navigation and crashes in the Brazilian jungle, killing 13 of the 54 people on board.
September 8 – PartnairFlight 394, a Convair 580, crashes into the North Sea after its tail section falls off in mid-air. All 55 people on board perish. The cause is blamed on counterfeit aircraft parts.
September 19 – UTAFlight 772, a McDonnell Douglas 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 al-Gaddafi, whose government in 2003 agrees to pay compensation to the victims.
September 20 – USAirFlight 5050, a Boeing 737, overruns the runway after a tire on a nosewheel bursts; two passengers die.
November 27 – AviancaFlight 203, a Boeing 727, explodes in mid-air over Colombia, killing all 107 people on board and three people on the ground. The Medellín Cartel claimed responsibility for the attack.
December 15 – KLMFlight 867, a Boeing 747 flying from Amsterdam to Anchorage, Alaska, flies through a cloud of volcanic debris, subsequently losing power from all four engines. The crew is able to restart the engines and land the plane safely.
February 14 – Indian AirlinesFlight 605, an Airbus A320, crashes on its final approach to Bangalore(City now re-named to Bangaluru) airport. 92 out of 146 people on board are killed.
June 10 – British AirwaysFlight 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.
February 1 – USAirFlight 1493, a Boeing 737, strikes SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569, a Fairchild Metro commuter plane waiting to take off from the same runway on which the Boeing 737 was landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Of the 101 people on both aircraft, 34 people, including all 12 aboard the Metro and 22 of the Boeing 737 passengers, are killed.
March 3 – United AirlinesFlight 585, a Boeing 737, crashes while attempting to land at Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing all 25 people on board. The cause of the crash is not identified until the investigation into the crash of USAir Flight 427 in 1994; both crashes are eventually attributed to defects in a valve associated with the rudder.
March 26 – Singapore AirlinesFlight 117, an Airbus A310, 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.
August 16 – Indian AirlinesFlight 257, a Boeing 737, hits high ground during descent about 30 km from the Imphal airport. All six crew members and 63 passengers were killed.
December 27 – Both engines of SASFlight 751, a McDonnell-Douglas 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.
February 20 – Seventy-six passengers fall ill and one dies after consuming contaminated shrimp served on board Aerolíneas ArgentinasFlight 386, leading to improvements in aircraft disinfection procedures.
March 22 – USAirFlight 405, a Fokker F-28, crashes on takeoff from New York because of ice buildup. Twenty-seven of the 51 people on board are killed.
October 4 – El AlFlight 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).
April 6 – TACAFlight 510, a Boeing 767-200ER, overruns the runway at Guatemala City-La Aurora Airport; all 236 on board survive; weather is a factor in the crash.
April 26 – Indian AirlinesFlight 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 on board.
July 26 – Asiana AirlinesFlight 733, a Boeing 737, crashes into a mountain in Haenam, South Korea after failed landing attempts, killing 78 of the 110 people on board; this crash is the first loss of a Boeing 737-500.
September 14 – LufthansaFlight 2904, an Airbus A320, crashes after overrunning the runway in Warsaw, Poland, killing 2 and injuring 68 of the 72 people on board.
September 22 – Transair Georgian Airline Crash (September 22): Another plane, a Tupolev Tu-154, carrying refugees from a besieged city, Tbilisi, is shot down on takeoff from Sukhumi-Babusheri Airport; the plane crashes on the runway and catches fire, killing 106 of the 132 people on board.
November 4 – China AirlinesFlight 605, a Boeing 747-409, overruns Kai Tak Airport runway 13 while landing in gale-force winds during a typhoon; despite the plane's unstable approach, the captain does not go around, and touches down more than two-thirds down the runway. The 747 is unable to stop before crashing into Hong Kong harbor; all 374 aboard escape serious injury, but the hull is written off as a total loss; this crash is the first loss of a Boeing 747-400.
April 4 – KLM CityhopperFlight 433, a Saab 340, crashes while trying to return to Schiphol Airport, due to pilot error and equipment failure; the pilot and two passengers die, nine passengers are injured.
April 7 – FedEx ExpressFlight 705, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, experiences an attempted hijacking by a FedEx employee; the three crew members are severely injured, but manage to subdue the attacker and land the aircraft safely with no loss of life.
June 6 – China Northwest AirlinesFlight 2303, a Tupolev Tu-154M, breaks up in mid-air and crashes near Xian, China, killing all 160 on board. The deadliest airplane crash ever to occur in China is attributed to a maintenance error.
July 19 – Alas ChiricanasFlight 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 – USAirFlight 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.
December 11 – A bomb explodes on board Philippine AirlinesFlight 434, a Boeing 747, killing one passenger, in a prelude to the terrorist Bojinka Plot. Despite subsequent difficulties in controlling the aircraft, the crew succeeds in making an emergency landing at Naha, Okinawa.
December 24 – Air FranceFlight 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.
December 13 – Banat Air Flight 166, a RomaviaAntonov An-24 (registered YR-AMR), crashes after taking off from Verona airport, because of overloading and ice accumulation on the wings. All 4 crew and all 45 passengers die.
July 6 – Delta Air LinesFlight 1288, a McDonnell Douglas MD-88, experiences an uncontained engine failure during takeoff on Runway 17 at Pensacola, Florida. Fragments from the number one (left) Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219 turbofan engine penetrated the fuselage, killing two and seriously injuring one of the 148 people on board.
October 2 – AeroperúFlight 603, a Boeing 757, crashes into the ocean off Pasamayo, Peru, because of a maintenance error. All 70 people on board are killed.
November 23 – Ethiopian AirlinesFlight 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, 125 are killed (Including the 3 Hijackers).
December 28 – United AirlinesFlight 826, a Boeing 747, encounters severe turbulence two hours into the flight; the aircraft safely lands back in Tokyo; all survive the accident, but a passenger dies later; despite having no damage, the aircraft is written off.
1998
January 4 – A passenger dies after suffering a reaction to secondhand smoke on board Olympic AirwaysFlight 417, a Boeing 747, leading to regulations on smoking on aircraft.
February 16 – China AirlinesFlight 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 six on the ground.
March 22 – Philippine AirlinesFlight 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.
April 20 – TAME AirlinesFlight 422, a Boeing 727, crashed into the mountains east of Bogotá, Colombia when it was taking off from El Dorado International Airport of Bogotá at about 4:45pm local time. The plane was owned by TAME, an Ecuadoran airline, but leased to Air France. The accident was caused by foggy weather and all passengers and crew were lost, at least 53 people.
July 24 – All Nippon AirwaysFlight 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 31 – LAPAFlight 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 AirwaysFlight 226A, a Boeing 757, veers off the runway at Girona, Catalonia (Spain) while landing in a thunderstorm and comes to rest in a field, broken apart in two places; 43 on board are injured, two seriously, but a passenger initially diagnosed as "lightly injured" dies five days later of unsuspected internal injuries.
October 31 – EgyptAirFlight 990, a Boeing 767 bound for Cairo, Egypt, crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 passengers and crew; cause is disputed: a deliberate suicide/homicide act by the relief first officer according to the NTSB, vs. a Boeing mechanical flaw according to Egyptian aviation authorities.
July 17 – Alliance AirFlight 7412, a Boeing 737-200, 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 FranceFlight 4590Concorde crashes during takeoff from Paris, France after its fuel tank catches fire, killing 9 crew and 101 passengers as well as four on the ground; the entire Concorde fleet is grounded for one year, and is eventually retired.
August 24 – Air TransatFlight 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 A330-200 were seriously injured.
American AirlinesFlight 11, a 767-200ER 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 others on the ground and in the building.
October 8 – SASFlight 686, a MD-87, crashes into a Cessna business jet on takeoff from Milan, Italy. The McDonnell Douglas MD-87 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 AirlinesFlight 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.
December 22 – On board American AirlinesFlight 63, a Boeing 767, a passenger, Richard Reid, attempts to detonate explosives hidden in his shoe, but fails and is subdued by two flight attendants and passengers. The plane lands safely in Boston.
January 28 – TAMEFlight 120, a Boeing 727, crashes into a volcano on approach to Tulcán, Ecuador in low-visibility conditions; all 94 on board are killed.
July 1 – America West AirlinesFlight 556, an Airbus A319, is ordered back to the terminal at Miami, Florida before take-off after security screeners report that the pilots appear intoxicated; the pilots are eventually given prison sentences.
July 10 – CrossairFlight 850, a Saab 2000, strikes an earth bank after landing at Werneuchen Airfield after multiple diversions due to a storm system; all 20 on board survive; the aircraft is written off.
November 6 – LuxairFlight 9642, a Fokker F50, crashes short of the runway while landing near Niederanven, Luxembourg in foggy conditions; of the 19 passengers and three crew on board, only two survive.
January 8 – Turkish AirlinesFlight 634, an Avro RJ100, crashes during its final approach to land at Diyarbakır Airport, Turkey in extensive fog. All of the 5 crew and 70 of the 75 passengers are killed, 5 passengers survive with heavy injuries.
May 29 – A man attempts to hijack QantasLinkFlight 1737, a Boeing 717, in Melbourne, Australia, intending to crash the plane in Tasmania. He is overpowered by the flight crew and passengers, but injures three people.
July 8 – Sudan AirwaysFlight 139, a Boeing 737-200, crashes shortly after taking off from Port Sudan, Sudan. The plane crashes into a hill while attempting an emergency landing. All 117 on board the plane perish; a two-year-old boy initially survives the crash, but dies the following day.
February 20 – British AirwaysFlight 268, a Boeing 747-400 taking off from Los Angeles to London suffers fire in engine 2. The plane flies on three engines to Manchester, where it performs an emergency landing. None of the people on board are harmed.
August 2 – Air FranceFlight 358, an Airbus A340-300, 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.
July 9 – S7 AirlinesFlight 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.
January 1 – Adam AirFlight 574, a Boeing 737-400 with 102 people on board, crashes into the ocean off the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, killing all on board in the worst ever crash involving the 737-400.
January 9 – An AerianTur-MAntonov An-26crashes 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.
February 26 – United AirlinesFlight 955, a Boeing 777, suffers a malfunction and fire in the right engine before takeoff; the fire is contained with no injuries to the 205 passengers and crew on board.
September 9 – Scandinavian Airlines Flight 1209, a de Havilland Canada Dash 8, experiences a landing gear failure in Aalborg, Denmark; none of the 73 people on board are seriously injured, but three days later, after a similar incident, the airline grounds the aircraft type.
September 12 – Scandinavian Airlines Flight 2748, a de Havilland Canada Dash 8, experiences a landing gear failure in Vilnius, Lithuania; none of the 52 people on board are injured, but because of a similar incident three days earlier, all their Dash 8s are grounded.
October 27 – Scandinavian Airlines Flight 2867, a de Havilland Canada Dash 8, experiences a landing gear failure in Copenhagen, Denmark; none of the 44 people on board are injured, but because of similar incidents in September, the airline "permanently" removes its Dash 8s from service; cause is eventually ascribed to maintenance error.
January 17 – British AirwaysFlight 38, a Boeing 777-200ER, lands short of the runway at London Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom. Nine of the 152 people on board are treated for minor injuries, but there are no fatalities; this is the first loss of a Boeing 777.
February 8 – Eagle AirwaysFlight 2279, a BAe Jetstream 32 is hijacked ten minutes after taking off from Blenheim, New Zealand by a passenger who attacked both pilots. The hijacker is eventually restrained by the co-pilot and the flight lands safely at Christchurch. All nine on board survive the incident.
March 10 – Adam Air Flight 292 Boeing 737-400 the registration of the aircraft as PK-KKT.flying from Jakarta to Batam skidded 75 metres off the end of the runway while landing in Batam. All passengers survived, with two passengers treated for shock. The plane sustained damage to one wing. This accident contributed to the airline's demise, just eight days later, and the formal revocation of its AOC two months later.
September 14 – AeroflotFlight 821, a Boeing 737, crashes on approach to Perm Airport from Moscow due to pilot error, killing all 88 people on board in the worst ever accident involving the Boeing 737-500.
October 7 – QantasFlight 72 an Airbus A330-300 makes an emergency landing in Exmouth, Australia following a rapid descent that leaves over 70 people injured, 14 of them seriously.
December 20 – Continental AirlinesFlight 1404, a Boeing 737-500 with 115 people on board, veers off the runway upon takeoff from Denver International Airport, comes to rest in a ravine near the runway and catches fire. There are no fatalities, over 38 people are injured, at least two of them seriously.
April 1 – Bond Offshore HelicoptersFlight 85N, a Eurocopter AS332, crashes 35 miles (56 km) off the Aberdeenshire coast while returning from the Miller oilfield, killing all 16 on board; the cause is a catastrophic failure of the main rotor gearbox.
April 19 – CanJetFlight 918 is seized on the ground by an armed man who slipped through security checks at Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay, Jamaica; all passengers are released early on; six crew members are kept as hostages for several hours before being freed unharmed.
June 1 – Air FranceFlight 447, an Airbus A330-200 flying from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, France, crashes in the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 occupants, including 12 crew; bodies and aircraft debris are not recovered until several days later; the aircraft itself is not found until 2011. The crash is the first fatal accident of the A330 and the worst-ever disaster involving the A330.
July 13 – Southwest AirlinesFlight 2294, a Boeing 737-300 from Nashville to Baltimore makes an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia after a 14x17 inch hole opens in the skin of the fuselage at 34,000 feet (10,000 m), causing a loss of cabin pressure; the plane lands safely with no injuries.
August 4 – Bangkok AirwaysFlight 266, an ATR 72-200 carrying 68 passengers crashes in severe weather on landing at Samui airport in the resort island of Ko Samui in Thailand, resulting in at least 1 confirmed death and 37 injuries.
October 21 – Northwest AirlinesFlight 188, an Airbus A320, overshoots its Minneapolis destination from San Diego by about 150 miles (240 km) and lands safely over one hour late; pilots are apparently distracted on personal laptop computers.
December 25 – Northwest AirlinesFlight 253, an Airbus A330-300 is attacked by a man using a small explosive device, causing only a small fire inside the plane, which is extinguished by a flight attendant; the man is subdued by passengers and crew; there are 3 injuries.
April 13 – Cathay PacificFlight 780, an Airbus A330-300, suffers a double engine failure on approach to Hong Kong International Airport; all 322 people on board survive, with 57 sustaining minor injuries, one of them seriously; 6 tires burst as the aircraft touches down hard on the runway at 230 knots (430 km/h).
May 15 – A Blue Wing AirlinesAntonov An-28crashes at Poeketi, Suriname, after it flies into bad weather just minutes after take-off. Radio contact with the flight is lost and another Blue Wing Airlines aircraft spots the wreckage of the plane shortly after; 6 passengers and 2 crew perish in the accident.
July 28 – AirblueFlight 202, an Airbus A321, crashes into a hill in the Margalla Hills north-east of Islamabad apparently due to bad weather resulting in 146 passengers and 6 crew members perished. It is the first fatal accident involving an Airbus A321 and Pakistan's worst air disaster.
September 3 – UPS AirlinesFlight 6, a Boeing 747-400, crashes at a military base shortly after take-off from Dubai International Airport, killing both of the two crew.
November 4 – QantasFlight 32, an Airbus A380 "Nancy-Bird Walton" VH-OQA, suffered a substantial mechanical failure of its left inboard engine after taking off from Singapore Changi Airport. The flight turned back and landed safely. All the 433 passengers and 26 crew on board were safe. Cowling parts of the failed engine fell over Batam island.
November 5 – A chartered JS AirBeechcraft 1900crashes near Karachi almost immediately after takeoff, killing all 19 passengers and 2 crew on board.
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