The Seven Bloodiest and Deadliest Aircraft Accidents in the History of Aviation

Turkish Airways 981, March 3rd 1974

Fatalities: 346

Flight 981 was at it’s usual routine when It was traveling from Turkey to London. Once it reach around 3000 feet, the cargo door suddenly bursts open and fuselage breaks into two. The pressurization falls rapidly so does the speed. It vanished mysteriously from the radar. Lamentably, all passengers on the flight perish from the impact. The investigators concluded that the crash resulted from the cargo door failure and the ability to not be able to control the airplane. Don’t worry, this was over 30 years ago when the models were very unsophistacated.

Moments after cargo failure

1996 Charki Dadri Crash

Fatalities: 349

Involving the Saudi Arabian flight 763 and Air Kazakhstan 1907

Everything was usual for these two planes, until they were noticed by ACI that they were on a collision course. Then, it was too late. These two planes did the nearly the impossible. The probability that a mid-air collision would occur is extremely slim (1 in 30,000,000). Pitifully, nearly 350 passengers died from the crash. The cause was that one of the pilots descended to an altitude which he was not instructed to, resulting in the crash.

Japan Airlines 123, 8/12/1985

Fatalities: 520

Flight 123 was flying from two places in Japan during the Bon Holiday in Japan. Little did they know that they nearly everyone would perish on the journey. The flight took off Tokyo, Japan 12 minutes delayed. Once it reached its cruising altitude, the rear pressure bulkhead failed. This lead to explosive decompression that tore the vertical stabilizer off the plane. This in turn damaged the hydraulic systems. The pilots requested for an emergency landing, it was granted. They continued having difficulties moving the plane because of the lost vertical stabilizer and hydraulic powering. They struggled on and crashed into Mount Osutaka. 516/520 passengers on the plane perished. The 4 survivors were seated at the back, the safest part of the plane.

Vertical Stabilizer Missing (Circled)

Tenerife Accident 3/27/1977

Fatalities: 583

Planes: Pan Am 1376, KLM 4805

This accident was the most tragic and disturbing plane crash ever (not including 9/11). After a bomb placed in the airport of the two planes, they were forced to land at Tenerife North Airport. Since the airport is small and has only 1 runway, air traffic control has to pay special attention, especially since bad weather is approaching. The two jumbo jets arrive at the airport, safely so far. The Pan Am is supposed to go into the taxiway while it is supposed to get out of the way of the KLM. The KLM captain doesn’t ask the air traffic control if he can take off and impatiently takes off. However, the Pan Am isn’t done taking the turn the turn into the taxiway and is still on the run way. The KLM throttles the engines to full power and starts to take off. With visibility up to 800 meters, they cannot see the Pan Am. The KLM crashes into the Pan Am, blowing off a huge chunk of the fuselage. All the people on the KLM die (248 people) and 335 people die on the Pan Am (56 survivors).

Cyan star is Pan Am, Blue is KLM

Red is impact area

Picture before Impact