Aviation accidents and incidents

An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results in serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Preventing both accidents and incidents is the primary goal of aviation safety. Adverse weather conditions, including turbulence, thunderstorms, icing, and low visibility, have historically been major contributing factors in aviation accidents and incidents worldwide.

Definitions

According to Annex 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, an aviation accident is an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until all such persons have disembarked, and in which a person is fatally or seriously injured, the aircraft sustains significant damage or structural failure, or the aircraft goes missing or becomes completely inaccessible. Annex 13 defines an aviation incident as an occurrence, other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft that affects or could affect the safety of operation.
A hull loss occurs if an aircraft is damaged beyond repair, is lost, or becomes completely inaccessible.

History

One of the earliest recorded aviation accidents occurred on May 10, 1785, when a hot air balloon crashed in Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. The resulting fire seriously damaged the town, destroying over 130 homes. The first accident involving a powered aircraft occurred on September 17, 1908, when a Wright Model A crashed at Fort Myer, Virginia, USA. The pilot and co-inventor, Orville Wright, was injured, and the passenger, Signal Corps Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, was killed.
The first aircraft accident in which 200 or more people died occurred on March 3, 1974, when 346 died in the crash of Turkish Airlines Flight 981., there have been a total of 34 aviation incidents in which 200 or more people have died.
The period from 1958 to 1968 saw tremendous growth in aviation. Improvements in aviation safety and accident investigation procedures were rapidly advancing. In 1963, the Civil Aeronautics Board, under the leadership of then Deputy Director Bobbie R. Allen, established the National Aircraft Accident Investigation School in Oklahoma City.
The ICAO's third accident investigation division meeting, held in Montreal, Canada, in January 1965, laid the foundation for accident investigations throughout the world. The proposals were presented by the Director of the Civil Aeronautics Board Bureau of Safety, Bobbie R. Allen, who headed the U.S. delegation. The U.S. formally adopted the proposals at the White House on December 1, 1965.
The top 10 countries with the highest number of fatal civil airliner accidents from 1945 to 2021 are the United States, Russia, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, United Kingdom, France, Indonesia, Mexico, and India. The United Kingdom is noted to have the highest number of air crashes in Europe, with a total of 110 air crashes within the time period, and Indonesia is the highest in Asia at 104, followed by India at 95.
The most fatalities on board a single aircraft are the 520 fatalities of the 1985 Japan Air Lines Flight 123 accident. The largest loss of life in a single aviation accident are the 583 fatalities of the 1977 Tenerife airport disaster, in which two Boeing 747s collided. The largest loss of life overall in a collective incident are the 2,996 fatalities in the coordinated terrorist destruction of airplanes and occupied buildings in the 2001 September 11 attacks; the first plane to be hijacked and crashed as part of the attack, American Airlines Flight 11, was alone responsible for an estimated 1,700 fatalities in total, making it the single deadliest aviation disaster in history.

September 11 attacks

The deadliest aviation-related disaster regarding fatalities both on board the aircraft and casualties on the ground, was the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001. On that morning, four commercial jet airliners on transcontinental flights from East Coast airports to California were hijacked after takeoff. The four hijacked aircraft were subsequently crashed in a series of four coordinated suicide attacks against major American landmarks by 19 Islamist terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, both regularly scheduled domestic transcontinental flights from Boston to Los Angeles, were hijacked by five men each, with the assigned pilot hijacker taking control of the flight, before being intentionally crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center, respectively, destroying both buildings in less than two hours. The World Trade Center crashes killed 2,753. As both planes were carrying a combined total of 157 occupants, the vast majority of fatalities were the occupants of the two towers and the emergency personnel responding to the disaster.
In addition, 184 were killed by the impact of American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, causing severe damage and partial destruction to the building's west side. The crash of United Airlines Flight 93 into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, which occurred as passengers attempted to retake control of the aircraft from the hijackers, killed all 40 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft. This brought the total number of casualties of the September 11 attacks to 2,996.
As deliberate terrorist acts, the 9/11 crashes were not classified as accidents, but as mass-killing. The events were treated by the member nations of NATO as an act of war and terrorism. The war on terror was subsequently launched by NATO in response to the attacks, eventually leading to the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the September 11 attacks.

Tenerife disaster

The Tenerife airport disaster on March 27, 1977, remains the accident with the highest number of airliner passenger fatalities. 583 people died when a KLM Boeing 747 attempted to take off and collided with a taxiing Pan Am 747 at Los Rodeos Airport on the Canary Island of Tenerife, Spain. All 234 passengers and 14 crew of the KLM aircraft died and 335 of the 396 passengers and crew of the Pan Am aircraft died. Pilot error was the primary cause; the KLM captain mistakenly believed he had received air traffic control clearance and initiated takeoff. Other contributing factors were a terrorist incident at Gran Canaria Airport that had caused many flights to be diverted to Los Rodeos, a small airport not well equipped to handle aircraft of such size, dense fog, poor radio phraseology, and controller distraction. The KLM flight crew could not see the Pan Am aircraft on the runway until immediately before the collision. The accident had a lasting influence on the industry, particularly in the area of communication. An increased emphasis was placed on using standardized phraseology in air traffic control communication by both controllers and pilots alike. "Cockpit Resource Management" has also been incorporated into flight crew training. The captain is no longer considered infallible, and combined crew input is encouraged during aircraft operations.

Japan Air Lines Flight 123

The crash of Japan Air Lines Flight 123 on August 12, 1985, has the highest number of fatalities for any single-aircraft accident: 520 people died aboard a Boeing 747. The aircraft experienced explosive decompression due to an improperly repaired aft pressure bulkhead, leading to the destruction of most of its vertical stabilizer and severing all hydraulic lines, rendering the 747 nearly uncontrollable. Pilots were able to keep the plane flying for 32 minutes after the mechanical failure before crashing into a mountain. All 15 crew members and 505 of the 509 passengers aboard died. Japanese military personnel inaccurately assumed, during a helicopter flyover of the impact site, that there were no survivors. Rescue operations were delayed until the following morning. Medical providers involved in rescue and analysis operations determined that several passengers likely survived the impact and probably would have survived the incident had rescue operations not been delayed. Four passengers survived the incident in its entirety, meaning that they were alive when discharged from the hospital.

Other crashes with death tolls of 200 or more

Number of deaths	Date	Flight name	Aircraft type	Accident details
349	November 12, 1996	Saudia Flight 763 / Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907	Boeing 747 / Ilyushin Il-76	Saudia Flight 763 and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907 collided mid-air over the town of Charkhi Dadri, near Delhi, India. The collision was mainly the result of the Kazakh pilot flying lower than the assigned clearance altitude. All 349 occupants on board the two aircraft died. It remains the world's deadliest mid-air collision without survivors. The Ramesh Chandra Lahoti Commission, empowered to study the causes, recommended the creation of the "semi-circular rule", to prevent aircraft from flying in opposite directions at the same altitude. The Civil Aviation Authorities in India made it mandatory for all aircraft flying in and out of India to be equipped with a Traffic Collision Avoidance System, setting a worldwide precedent for mandatory use of TCAS.
346	March 3, 1974	Turkish Airlines Flight 981	McDonnell Douglas DC-10	Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashed in a forest northeast of Paris, France. The London-bound aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from Orly airport; all 346 people aboard died. It was later determined that the cargo door detached, which caused an explosive decompression; this caused the floor just above to collapse. The collapsed floor severed the control cables, which left the pilots without control of the elevators, the rudder and No. 2 engine. The aircraft entered a steep dive and crashed. It was the deadliest plane crash of all time until the Tenerife disaster in 1977. It remains the deadliest single-aircraft crash with no survivors. This accident was also the deadliest single-aircraft crash that did not involve a Boeing 747.
329	June 23, 1985	Air India Flight 182	Boeing 747-237	Air India Flight 182 en route from Toronto and Montreal to London and Delhi, crashed off the southwest coast of Ireland when a bomb exploded in the cargo hold. All 307 passengers and 22 crew members died. One passenger had checked in as "M. Singh". Singh did not board the flight but his suitcase, containing the bomb, was loaded onto the aircraft. "M. Singh" was never identified or captured. It was later determined Sikh extremists were behind the bombing as a retaliation for the Indian government's attack on the Golden Temple in the city of Amritsar, spiritually the most significant shrine in Sikhism. This was, at the time, the deadliest terrorist attack involving an airplane.
301	August 19, 1980	Saudia Flight 163	Lockheed L-1011	Saudia Flight 163 became the world's deadliest aviation accident that did not involve a crash. The crew performed an emergency landing at Riyadh after a fire broke out in an aft baggage compartment. The fire burned through the ceiling of the compartment and into the passenger cabin. The crew landed the aircraft safely, but the captain did not stop immediately and order an evacuation. He taxied off the runway instead, by which time everyone in the cabin had become unconscious due to fumes and were unable to open any doors or evacuate. All 301 passengers and crew aboard died of suffocation before rescue ground crews could open any door, after which the aircraft burst into flames and was consumed by fire.
298	July 17, 2014	Malaysia Airlines Flight 17	Boeing 777-200ER	Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down in an area of Eastern Ukraine near the Ukraine/Russian border during the war in Donbas. There were 298 people on board: 283 passengers and 15 crew members, all of whom died. The crew were all Malaysians, while the passengers were of various nationalities, most from the Netherlands. Several Ukrainian Air Force aircraft had been shot down over the rebel-controlled territory before the MH17 incident. Immediately after the crash, a post appeared on the VKontakte social media profile attributed to Igor Girkin, leader of the Donbas separatist militia, claiming responsibility for shooting down a Ukrainian An-26 military transport near Torez. The post was removed later the same day, and the separatists then denied shooting down any aircraft.
290	July 3, 1988	Iran Air Flight 655	Airbus A300-200	Iran Air Flight 655, an Iranian civilian airliner, was shot down by two surface-to-air missiles from the U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes over the Strait of Hormuz. All 290 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft died. The downing was caused by a series of mistakes that led the USS Vincennes crew to believe that the airliner was an Iranian Air Force F-14.
275	February 19, 2003	Iranian military aircraft	Ilyushin Il-76	An Iranian military Ilyushin Il-76 crashed in mountainous terrain near Kerman in Iran. The official report says bad weather brought the aircraft down; high winds and fog were present at the time of the crash.
273	May 25, 1979	American Airlines Flight 191	McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10	American Airlines Flight 191 crashed shortly after lifting off the runway at Chicago O'Hare Airport after the number one engine and pylon separated from the wing. This broke hydraulic lines, causing leading edge lift devices to retract on that side of the aircraft and resulted in asymmetrical lift and loss of control. The accident was attributed to improper maintenance procedures. The crash resulted in the deaths of all 271 passengers and crew on board, as well as two people on the ground. It remains the deadliest commercial aircraft accident in United States history, and was also the country's deadliest aviation disaster until the September 11 attacks in 2001.
270	December 21, 1988	Pan Am Flight 103	Boeing 747-121	Pan Am Flight 103 bound for New York–JFK from London–Heathrow with continued service to Detroit, was destroyed by a terrorist bomb over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 occupants and 11 people on the ground, died, making it the worst terrorist attack involving an aircraft in the UK and the deadliest terrorist attack on British soil. Following the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration imposed new security measures on American airlines flying out of 103 airports in Western Europe and the Middle East.
269	September 1, 1983	Korean Air Lines Flight 007	Boeing 747-230	A Soviet interceptor Sukhoi Su-15 shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 bound for Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, South Korea, after it unintentionally flew into Soviet airspace; all 269 occupants on board died.
265	November 12, 2001	American Airlines Flight 587	Airbus A300	American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens, New York, just after departing John F. Kennedy International Airport bound for Las Américas International Airport, Santo Domingo. The first officer's overuse of the rudder in response to wake turbulence from a Japan Airlines 747 was cited as cause. All 260 people on board, as well as five people on the ground, died from the crash. It is the second-deadliest aviation accident on U.S. soil, after American Airlines Flight 191.
264	April 26, 1994	China Airlines Flight 140	Airbus A300B4-622R	China Airlines Flight 140 was completing a routine flight and approach at Nagoya Airport, Japan, when the Airbus A300B4-622R's First Officer inadvertently pressed the takeoff/go-around button, which raises the throttle position to the same as that for take offs and go-arounds. The action and the two pilots' reaction resulted in a crash that killed 264 of the 271 people aboard.
261	July 11, 1991	Nigeria Airways Flight 2120	Douglas DC-8-61	Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 operated by Nationair Canada, crashed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after two tires ignited upon takeoff, leading to an in-flight fire. All 261 occupants were killed. It is the deadliest aviation accident involving a DC-8, the largest aviation disaster involving a Canadian-registered aircraft and the second-worst accident in Saudi Arabia.
260	June 12, 2025	Air India Flight 171	Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner	Air India Flight 171 flying from Ahmedabad, India, to London, United Kingdom, crashed shortly after take off into the Meghaninagar neighbourhood, killing all but one of the 242 people onboard and also 19 people on the ground. According to a preliminary report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, the crash was caused by both engines losing thrust after the fuel control switches moved from the RUN to CUTOFF position. The cause of the switch movement remains under investigation.
257	April 11, 2018	Algerian Air Force transport aircraft	Ilyushin Il-76	Algerian Air Force transport aircraft crashed shortly after take-off from Boufarik Airport, killing all 257 occupants on board the Ilyushin Il-76.
257	November 28, 1979	Air New Zealand Flight 901	McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30	Air New Zealand Flight 901 an Antarctic sightseeing flight, collided with Mount Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica, killing all 257 occupants on board. The flight crew had not been informed that the computer coordinates for the flight path of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 had been changed the night before, directing the flight towards Mount Erebus rather than the usual path down McMurdo Sound.
256	December 12, 1985	Arrow Air Flight 1285R	Douglas DC-8-63CF	Arrow Air Flight 1285R carrying American military personnel on a charter flight home for Christmas, crashed in Newfoundland; all 256 occupants on board died. The Canadian Aviation Safety Board investigating the cause of the crash issued two different reports: the majority report cited ice on the wings as cause of the crash; the minority report suggests an explosion was the likely cause. This was the deadliest aviation incident in Canadian history.
239	March 8, 2014	Malaysia Airlines Flight 370	Boeing 777-200ER	Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China, lost contact with air traffic controllers over the South China Sea, deviated from its planned route, and was presumed lost in the southern Indian Ocean. It carried 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 15 nations, who are all presumed dead. A multinational search effort, the most extensive and expensive in aviation history, has thus far failed to locate the aircraft, though debris from the aircraft has been recovered from beaches around the Indian Ocean. Numerous theories have been offered to explain the disappearance of the flight, with pilot suicide considered most likely, but none have been confirmed.
234	September 26, 1997	Garuda Indonesia Flight 152	Airbus A300B4-220	Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 which departed from Jakarta, Indonesia, and was preparing to land at Medan, North Sumatra, crashed into mountainous terrain, killing all 234 occupants on board. The causes included turning left instead of right as instructed by ATC and descending below the assigned altitude of 2,000 feet due to pilot error. It is the deadliest aviation disaster in Indonesia's history.
230	July 17, 1996	TWA Flight 800	Boeing 747-131	TWA Flight 800 carrying 230 occupants, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, shortly after departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport on a flight to Paris and Rome. A lengthy investigation concluded that the probable cause of the accident was a short circuit in a fuel tank that contained an explosive mixture of fuel vapor and air. As a result, new requirements were developed to prevent future fuel tank explosions in aircraft.
229	September 2, 1998	Swissair Flight 111	McDonnell Douglas MD-11	Swissair Flight 111 carrying 215 passengers and 14 crew from New York City to Geneva, Switzerland, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, killing all 229 people aboard. After a lengthy investigation, an official report stated that flammable material used in the aircraft's structure, specifically the Personal TV Systems recently installed in the Business Class Cabin, allowed a fire to spread, resulting in a loss of control.
228	June 1, 2009	Air France Flight 447	Airbus A330-203	Air France Flight 447 carrying 228 occupants, was en route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, France, when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft's flight recorders were not recovered from the ocean floor until May 2011, and the final investigative report was released in July 2012. It determined that the disaster was likely due to the aircraft's pitot tubes being obstructed by ice crystals, causing the autopilot to disconnect. The crew reacted incorrectly, leading to an aerodynamic stall from which the jet did not recover.
228	August 6, 1997	Korean Air Flight 801	Boeing 747-3B5	Korean Air Flight 801 crashed on approach to the international airport in the United States territory of Guam, killing 228 of the 254 people aboard. Contributing factors in the crash were fatigue and errors by the flight crew, inadequate flight crew training, and a modification of the airport's altitude warning system that prevented it from detecting aircraft below a minimum safe altitude.
227	January 8, 1996	1996 Air Africa Antonov An-32 crash	Antonov An-32B	An Antonov An-32B aircraft with six crew members on board overshot the runway at N'Dolo Airport, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and crashed into a market place. Four on board survived but 225 people on the ground were killed and an estimated 500 were injured. It is the crash with the most non-passenger ground fatalities. It is usually known as the 1996 Air Africa crash.
225	May 25, 2002	China Airlines Flight 611	Boeing 747-209B	China Airlines Flight 611 bound for Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, disintegrated in mid-air and crashed into the Taiwan Strait 20 minutes after takeoff from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan. It was determined that the crash, which killed all 206 passengers and 19 crew members aboard the plane, was caused by improper repairs to the aircraft 22 years earlier when the aircraft encountered a tailstrike.
224	October 31, 2015	Metrojet Flight 9268	Airbus A321-231	Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed in the Sinai Peninsula after departing Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, Egypt, en route to Pulkovo Airport, Saint Petersburg, Russia. All 224 occupants on board were killed. A branch of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for bringing down the jet, and a Russian investigation concluded that a bomb was detonated inside the plane at a high altitude.
223	May 26, 1991	Lauda Air Flight 004	Boeing 767-3Z9ER	Lauda Air Flight 004 broke up in midair over a remote area of Thailand due to an uncommanded deployment of a thrust reverser on one of the plane's engines, killing all 223 occupants aboard. The flight, which originated at Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, and made a stopover at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, was en route to Vienna International Airport, Vienna, Austria, when the accident occurred.
217	October 31, 1999	EgyptAir Flight 990	Boeing 767-366ER	EgyptAir Flight 990 flying from Los Angeles International Airport, United States, to Cairo International Airport, Egypt, with a stop at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, killing all 217 occupants onboard. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the crash was deliberate action by the relief first officer in response to his removal from international service within Egyptair, a finding disputed by Egyptian authorities who maintain another cause of the accident.
213	January 1, 1978	Air India Flight 855	Boeing 747-237B	Air India Flight 855 crashed into the Arabian Sea just off the coast of Bombay, India, killing all 213 occupants on board. An investigation concluded that the captain became disoriented after the failure of one of the flight instruments in the cockpit, leading to "irrational control inputs" that caused the plane to crash.
202	February 16, 1998	China Airlines Flight 676	Airbus A300B4-622R	China Airlines Flight 676 en route from Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, Indonesia, to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, Taiwan, crashed into a road and residential neighborhood in Taoyuan, Taiwan, killing 182 passengers, 14 crew, and six people on the ground. An investigation determined that when the control tower ordered the pilot to abort his landing and "go around" for a second attempt, the pilot, who had unintentionally released the plane's autopilot, did nothing to take control of the plane for 11 seconds as he apparently thought the autopilot would initiate the go around. As the aircraft approached the airport, the pilot executed a sudden steep ascent that produced a stall and crash. China Airlines was also criticized for "insufficient training".
200	July 10, 1985	Aeroflot Flight 5143	Tupolev Tu-154B-2	Aeroflot Flight 5143 on a domestic Karshi–Ufa–Leningrad route, crashed near Uchkuduk, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union, on the first leg of its route. All 200 occupants onboard were killed. An investigation concluded that the plane went down due to pilot error. The air crew used an inappropriately low airspeed, causing vibrations that they incorrectly interpreted as engine surges. As a result, they further reduced engine power, causing the aircraft to stall and crash.