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Turkish Airlines Flight 981
On March 3, 1974, Turkish Airlines Flight 981, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, crashed in a forest northeast of Paris, France. The London-bound plane crashed shortly after taking off from Orly airport; all 346 people on board 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. -
Tenerife disaster
The Tenerife airport disaster, which occurred 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 without flight clearance, and collided with a taxiing Pan Am 747 at Los Rodeos Airport on the Canary Island of Tenerife, Spain. There were no survivors from the KLM aircraft; 61 of the 396 passengers and crew on the Pan Am aircraft survived. -
American Airlines Flight 191
On May 25, 1979, American Airlines Flight 191, A McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10, crashed shortly after lifting off the runway at Chicago O'Hare Airport after the number one (left) 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 -
Arabian Airlines Flight 163
On August 19, 1980, Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011, 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. While the crew managed to land the plane safely, the captain did not stop immediately and order an evacuation.All 301 passengers and crew died of suffocation -
Air India Flight 182
On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747-237B, 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. His suitcase containing the bomb was loaded onto the plane, however. "Mr Singh" was never identified or captured. -
JAL Flight 123
The crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 on August 12, 1985, is the single-aircraft disaster with the highest number of fatalities:520 people died on board a Boeing 747. The aircraft suffered an explosive decompression from an incorrectly repaired aft pressure bulkhead, which failed in mid flight, destroying most of its vertical stabilizer and severing all of the hydraulic lines, making the 747 virtually uncontrollable. -
Iran Air Flight 655
On July 3, 1988, Iran Air Flight 655, an Iranian Airbus A300-200 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. -
Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision
On November 12, 1996, the world's deadliest mid-air collision was the Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision involving Saudia Flight 763 and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907 over Charkhi Dadri, India.The collision was mainly the result of the Kazakh pilot flying lower than the assigned clearance altitude. All 349 passengers and crew on board of both the aircraft died. -
Iranian military Ilyushin Il-76
On February 19, 2003, 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. -
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777-200ER, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 298 people on board, was shot down in an area of Eastern Ukraine near the Ukraine/Russian border during Russian invasion of Ukraine.According to the preliminary report of the international investigation commission, the plane was shot down by Russian occupation troops using a surface-to-air missile fired from the Ukrainian territory that they occupied.
