The largest airplane disaster in world history is arguably the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Terrorists seized four passenger airlines and crashed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers resisted the hijackers. In total, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the four crashes — making it the bloodiest terrorist attack in modern history.
Besides 9/11, there has been no shortage of deadly crashes. These are the five deadliest involving civilian aircraft.
Tenerife North Airport runway collision
Date: Mar. 27, 1977
Number of victims: 583
Location: Tenerife North Airport (formerly known as Los Rodeos airport) in Spain
Reason for crash: Violation of orders from the air traffic control tower, human error, poor visibility
Description: Two Boeing 747s collided on a foggy runway resulting in the deadliest air traffic accident ever. One plane belonged to KLM, and the other to Pan Am. All of KLM’s 14 crew and 234 passengers were killed, whereas 9 of 16 crew members on board Pan Am’s Boeing, as well as its 326 of 380 passengers were killed.
The pilots of the two planes made mistakes on the runway. Pan Am’s crew failed to take the requested turn off the runway, whereas KLM’s pilots started their takeoff without authorization. As a result of the KLM pilot’s failed attempt to leapfrog Pan Am’s aircraft, the Dutch airline’s aircraft hit the other’s fuselage with its belly.
The Dutch authorities later accepted that the KLM crew, especially the captain, decided to take off “prematurely.” They insisted, however, that the accident happened due to “mutual misunderstanding” between the controller and the Dutch crew.
Mount Takamagahara crash
Date: Aug. 12, 1985
Number of victims: 520
Location: Mount Takamagahara in the Kanto Range, central Japan
Reason for crash: Bad technical condition of the plane
Description: The Boeing 747 operating Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashed into Mount Takamagahara in central Japan, resulting in the deadliest single-aircraft accident in history.
Four people survived the crash. The number of survivors could have been larger, but the Japanese authorities rejected help ready to arrive from a nearby U.S. military base. Japanese rescuers could only reach the crash site 14 hours after the disaster due to difficult terrain.
JAL 123 departed from Tokyo’s Haneda airport and was scheduled to arrive in Osaka an hour later. At an altitude of 7,500 meters the pilot sent a distress signal saying that he was unable to control his aircraft. Forty-five minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed.
The plane’s tail, weakened by numerous landings and takeoffs, was identified as the technical reason for the disaster. JAL states on its webpage that faulty repairs by Boeing “resulted in a formation of many small fatigue cracks … over the subsequent seven years.” The accumulated damage led to the fracturing of the tail in flight.
Relatives of victims of the Japan Airlines (JAL) Flight 123 crash offer prayers at a memorial for the 30th anniversary of the accident at Ueno village in Gunma prefecture, northwest of Tokyo on August 12, 2015. Hundreds of people attended ceremonies marking the 30th anniversary of a JAL plane jet crash that killed 520 people on board, the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in history. AFP PHOTO / JIJI PRESS JAPAN OUT (Photo by JIJI PRESS / JIJI PRESS / AFP)
Mid-air collision over Charkhi Dadri
Date: Nov. 12, 1996
Number of victims: 349
Location: Airspace over the city of Charkhi Dadri in northern India
Reason for crash: Violation of air traffic controllers’ orders
Description: A Boeing 747 used for Saudia Flight 763 with 312 people on board hit the Ilyushin II-76 operating Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907 with 37 people on board.
The mid-air collision occurred due to the Ilyushin aircraft descending 500 meters below its designated ceiling of 15,000 feet, while the Boeing was ascending in the opposite direction. The air traffic controllers only spotted the two planes’ proximity once it was too late to react.
As a result, the Ilyushin’s tail cut through the Boeing’s wing, leaving no chance for anyone on board the two aircrafts to survive. Afterwards, the Indian air traffic authority requested that all aircraft flying in and out of Indian airports be equipped with anti-collision equipment.
Self-destruction of Turkish Airlines’ Douglas DC-10
Date: March 3, 1974
Number of victims: 346
Location: Ermenonville Forest north of Paris
Reason for crash: Faulty plane design
Description: Turkish Airlines Flight 981 self-destroyed 10 minutes after take-off from Orly Airport in Paris. The plane, which flew out of Istanbul, had been making a stopover before flying onward to London. The crash took the lives of all 335 passengers and 11 crew members.
At that time, the Douglas DC-10 had a flaw in the construction of its rear cargo doors. The doors could be locked by luggage handlers without properly locking the safety pins. Due to the sudden opening of the doors, explosive decompression in the cabin disabled the aircraft’s rudder, elevators and two engines. This pitched the aircraft nose-down to the surface. It was the worst crash even on French soil.
After the disaster, plane producer McDonnell Douglas redesigned its inward-opening plug doors. American air traffic regulators also forced other plane producers with similar doors on their aircraft to opt for safer options.
Irish sailors unload on June 29, 1985 at a navy base in Cork, debris from the Air India Flight 182 that crashed off the coast of Ireland on June 23. The Boeing 747 was blown up by a bomb at an altitude of 31,000 feet (9400 metres), killing 329 people. (AFP)
Terror attack on Air India Flight 182
Date: June 23, 1985
Number of victims: 329
Location: Coastline of Ireland
Reason for crash: Terror attack
Description: Air India Flight 182 crashed off the coast of Ireland in a terror attack allegedly masterminded by Sikh extremist organization Babbar Khalsa. The Boeing 747 travelled from Toronto to Mumbai with a stopover in London.
Lax security regulations in Canada at the time allowed the terrorists to place a bomb in the luggage compartment. A passenger identified as “M. Singh” checked his luggage for the flight, but never actually boarded the plane. He was never identified.
Even though the Indian government had warned its Canadian counterparts of possible terror attacks on Indian planes, the Canadians failed to ensure flight safety.
