List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners grouped by year - Definition and Overview

Accidents and incidents on commercial airliners grouped by the year that the incident or accident occurred. This list is also available grouped: by airline, by location, alphabetically. See also: Incidents in Aviation.

1947

• August 2 - Lancastrian Stardust crashes in Chile.

1948

• October 20 - KLM Constellation air disaster (Prestwick, Scotland)

1949

• October 27 – Air France Lockheed Constellation crashed in the Azores – 48 died including French boxing star Marcel Cerdan and the brillant young concert violinist, Ginette Neveu.
• November 1 - an Eastern Air Lines Douglas C-54B-10-DO enroute from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. crashed on its final approach killing all 55 persons on board.

1951

• April 25 - Cubana de Aviacion Douglas DC-4 departed Miami, Florida enroute to Havana, Cuba collided in air with a United states Navy Beech SNB-1 Kansan (39939) at an altitude of 4000 feet off Key West killing all 5 crew members and 34 passengers on board.

• June 22 - Pan American World Airways Flight #151, a Lockheed L-049 Constellation named the "Clipper Great Republic" enroute from Accra, Ghana to Monrovia, Liberia crashed at 1050 feet into a hill near Sanoyea, Liberia while on approach 54 miles from the airport. There were no survivors amongst the 31 passengers and 9 crew members.

• July 21 – a Canadian Pacific Air Lines Douglas C-54A-10-DC departed Vancouver, British Columbia for Anchorage, Alaska but disappeared enroute without a trace. Eveentually, all 37 on board would be declared legally dead.

• December 16 – a Miami Airlines Curtiss C-46F-1-CU departed Newark, New Jersey bound for Tampa, Florida but caught fire and crashed in Elizabeth, New Jersey attempting to return to the airport. All 56 persons on board died.

1953

• May 2, De Havilland Comet crashed soon after take-off from Calcutta - first of a series of crashes that led to Comet 1 fleet being grounded and eventually scrapped.
• September 1, Air France Lockheed 749C Constellation flew into Mt. Cemet in the French Alps killing all 42 people aboard including renowned French classsical violinist Jacques Thibaud.

1955

• November 1 - United Airlines Flight 629 (mass murder by Jack Gilbert Graham)

1956

• June 30 - United Airlines DC-7 flying from Los Angeles to Chicago and a TWA Constellation collided over the Grand Canyon. The 58 passengers on the DC-7, and the 70 passengers on the Constellation were all killed. The pilots had both requested permission to fly in undesignated airspace to give their passengers a better view and the crash was attributed to the pilots not seeing each other until it was too late.

1958

• February 6 - British European Flight 609 (Munich air disaster)

1963

• Pan Am Flight 214 - struck by positive lightning

1970

• February 15 - Dominicana DC-9 air disaster
• February 21 - Swissair Flight 330

1971

• November 24 - A man using the name Dan Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines flight 305 out of Portland. In exchange for $200,000 and four parachutes he released the passengers. The crew took off and he parachuted from the plane. He was never found.

1972

• January 26 - JAT Yugoslav Flight 364
• June 18 - British European Flight 848 (Staines air disaster)
• June 24 - Prinair Flight 191
• December 29 - Eastern Airlines Flight 401

1973

• December 17 - Pan Am Flight 110

1974

• March 3 - Turkish Airlines Flight 981 (Ermenonville air disaster)
• September 8 - TWA Flight 841

1975

• September 30 - Malév Flight 240

1977

• March 27 - KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736 (Tenerife disaster)

1978

• 1 January - Air India Flight 855
• September 25 - PSA Flight 182

1979

• May 25 - American Airlines Flight 191
• November 28 - Air New Zealand Flight 901

1980

• June 27 - Itavia Flight 870

1982

• January 13 - Air Florida Flight 90
• January 23 - World Airways Flight 30, landed long at Boston, two missing presumed dead.
• July 9 - Pan Am Flight 759, crashed in Kenner, Louisiana shortly after takeoff.

1983

• July 23 - Air Canada Flight 143 (Gimli Glider)
• September 1 - Korean Air Flight 7
• September 23 - Gulf Air Flight 771
• June 2 - Air Canada Flight 797

1985

• June 14 - TWA Flight 847
• June 23 - Air India Flight 182
• August 2 - Delta Air Lines Flight 191
• August 12 - Japan Airlines Flight 123
• August 22 - Manchester air disaster
• November 23 - EgyptAir Flight 648
• December 12 - Arrow Air Flight 1285

1986

• April 2 - TWA Flight 840
• September 5 - Pan Am Flight 73
• December 25 - Iraqi Airways Hijacking

1987

• August 16 - Northwest Airlines Flight 255, crashed on takeoff from DTW, 154 died, one person survived.
• November 29 - Korean Air Flight 858
• December 7 - Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771

1988

• March 17 - Avianca Flight 410
• April 28 - Aloha Flight 243
• July 3 - Iran Air Flight 655
• August 31 - Delta Air Lines Flight 1411
• December 21 - Pan Am Flight 103 (Lockerbie air disaster)

1989

• January 8 - British Midlands Flight 92 (Kegworth air disaster)
• June 7 - Surinam Airways Flight PY764
• July 19 - United Airlines Flight 232
• September 19 - UTA Flight 772
• November 27 - Avianca Flight 203

1990

• January 25 - Avianca Flight 52

1991

• February 1 - USAir Flight 1493
• March 3 - United Airlines Flight 585
• May 26 - Lauda Air Flight 004

1992

• October 4 - El Al Flight 1862 crashes on 2 flats in Amsterdam (bijlmerramp).
• December 21 - Martinair MP 495 crashed in Faro, Portugal killing 54 persons and injuring 106.

1993

• September 21 - Transair Georgian Airline Crash (21 September)
• September 22 - Transair Georgian Airline Crash (22 September)

1994

• July 19 - Alas Chiricanas bombing (Panama airline bombing)
• September 8 - USAir Flight 427
• October 31 - American Eagle Flight 4184
• December 11 - Philippine Airlines Flight 434
• December 24 - Air France Flight 8969

1995

• December 20 - American Airlines Flight 965

1996

• February 6 - Birgenair Flight 301
• February 29 - Faucett Flight 251
• May 11 - Valujet Flight 592
• July 17 - TWA Flight 800
• October 6 - AeroPeru Flight 603
• November 12 - Saudia Flight 763, crashed with Kazakhstan Air Lines Ilyushin 76 cargo jet.
• November 23 - Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961

1997

• December 19 - Silkair MI 185, this Jakarta bound flight from Singapore crashed near Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia because of thick smokes caused by forest fires.

1998

• September 2 - Swissair Flight 111

1999

• June 1 - American Airlines Flight 1420
• July 24 - All Nippon Airways Flight 61
• August 22 - Mandarin Airlines Flight 642
• October 31 - EgyptAir Flight 990
• December 24-December 31 - Indian Airlines Flight 814

2000

• January 30 - Alaska Airlines Flight 261
• July 25 - Air France Flight 4590
• October 31 - Singapore Airlines Flight 6

2001

• August 24 - Air Transat Flight 236 runs out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean and makes an emergency landing in the Azores islands
• September 11 - American Airlines Flight 11 (WTC North Tower) (September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks)
• September 11 - United Airlines Flight 175 (WTC South Tower) (September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks)
• September 11 - American Airlines Flight 77 (The Pentagon) (September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks)
• September 11 - United Airlines Flight 93 (Somerset County, Pennsylvania) (September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks)
• October 4 - Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 was shot down by Ukrainian missile over Black Sea
• October 8 - Linate Airport disaster, Scandinavian Airlines Flight 686
• November 12 - American Airlines Flight 587
• December 22 - American Airlines Flight 63

2002

• February 27- Ryanair Flight 296
• April 15 - Air China flight 129
• May 7 - China Northern flight 6136
• May 25 - China Airlines Flight 611
• July 1 - Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937
• November 6 - Luxair Flight 9642

2003

• March 6 - Air Algerie Flight 6289
• December 25 - UTA Flight 141

2004

• January 3 - Flash Airlines Flight 604
• May 9 - American Eagle Flight 1450
• August 24 - Siberia Airlines Flight 1047
• August 24 - Volga-AviaExpress Flight 1303
• November 21 - China Eastern flight 5210
• November 30 - Lion Air JT 538, a crash landing in Surakarta, Central Java Indonesia.