List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners grouped by year
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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: Accidents and incidents in aviation.
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1945
- July 12 - An Eastern Airlines flight enroute from Boston to Miami with stops in Washington, DC and Columbia, SC collided with a US Army B-25 Mitchell bomber about 3,000 feet above Syracuse, SC (about 20 miles from Florence, SC). The commercial pilot, G. D. Davis, landed his craft in a corn field nearby. One passenger, an infant, died. The bomber exploded; two died and one was able to parachute safely.
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1946
- October 3 - A Berlin-bound four engine Douglas crashed into a mountainside outside of Stephanville, Newfoundland. The flight, operated by American Overseas Airlines was mostly carrying wives and children of US Army personnel serving in post-war Germany. All 39 people aboard died. At the time, it was the worst accident of its kind among US civilian airlines.
- December 25 - At least three planes crashed independently amidst heavy fog in Shanghai, China.
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1947
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1948
- October 20 - KLM Constellation air disaster (Prestwick, Scotland)
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1949
- September 9 - Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-3 exploded in mid-flight enroute from Quebec City to Baie-Comeau as the result of an onboard bomb, killing all 23 on board. See Albert Guay affair.
- October 27 – Air France Lockheed Constellation crashed in the Azores – 48 died including French boxing star Marcel Cerdan and the brilliant young concert violinist, Ginette Neveu.
- November 1 - Eastern Air Lines Flight 537, a Douglas C-54B-10-DO, enroute from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. collided with a P-38 fighter on its final approach to National Airport. Both planes crashed, killing all 55 persons aboard the Douglas, the P-38 pilot, Eric Rios Bridaux, survived. Bridaux was a Bolivian Air Force pilot. Among the dead was congressman George J. Bates and former congressman Michael J. Kennedy.
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1950
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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 Airlines Douglas C-54A-10-DC departed Vancouver, British Columbia for Anchorage, Alaska but disappeared enroute without a trace. Eventually, 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.
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1952
- May 26, A BOAC 4-engined Hermes aircraft with 10 passengers aboard, crash-landed in the Sahara Desert, 1,300 miles off-course on a flight between London and Accra, Ghana. All passengers and crew survived the initial crash landing, but the First Officer later died of injuries sustained in the crash.
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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 classical violinist Jacques Thibaud.
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1954
- March 13, BOAC Lockheed Constellation, "Belfast", arrived at Singapore from Sydney, Australia, and crashed on landing at the Kallang Airport, killing 32 passengers and 1 crew.
- September 5, KLM Flight 633, KLM Lockheed Super Constellation, "Triton", ditched after takeoff from Shannon Airport
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1955
- October 6 - United Airlines Flight 409
- November 1 - United Airlines Flight 629 (mass murder by Jack Gilbert Graham)
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1956
- June 30 - United Airlines Flight 718, a DC-7, flying from Los Angeles to Chicago and TWA Flight 2, a Constellation, collided over the Grand Canyon. The 58 passengers and crew on the DC-7, and the 70 passengers and crew 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.
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1957
- February 1 - Northeast Airlines Flight 823 crashed on takeoff in a snowstorm.
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1958
- February 6 - British European Flight 609 (Munich air disaster)
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1959
- February 3 - American Airlines Flight 320 crashed into the East River, New York City due to pilot error.
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1960
- January 6 - National Airlines Flight 2511 from New York to Miami, a propeller driven DC-6B, crashed near Bolivia, North Carolina after an on board explosion. A bomb is thought to have been planted by Julian A. Frank, a New York lawyer, who was heavily insured. 34 died, none survived.
- March 17 -- Northwest Airlines Lockheed Electra lost a wing due to propeller whirlmode and crashed in southern Indiana near Tell City. All 63 aboard including the crew perished. Unusual accident site in that the remains of the 63 victims were impacted in a 30 foot deep crater which became their final resting place. A monument marks the grave with the names of the victims and the date of the tragedy.
- December 16 -- The 1960 New York air disaster: United Airlines Flight 826, a DC-8, and TWA Flight 266, a Superconstellation, collided over Staten Island in New York. All 134 onboard the two planes, and six people on the ground were killed.
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1961
- February 15 - Sabena Flight 548 in Brussels, Belgium, killing the entire United States figure skating team
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1962
- March 1 -- American Airlines Flight 1, a Boeing 707, crashed in Jamaica Bay, Queens, New York. 95 died.
- March 4 - A chartered British airliner crashed into a jungle swamp at Douala in Africa, 111 died.
- March 16 - Flying Tigers Line Flight 739, chartered by the US military, disappeared over the western Pacific. It was carrying 96 US soldiers en route to South Vietnam.
- May 22 - Continental Airlines Flight 11
- June 3 Air France Chateau de Sully at Orly Airport
- November 30 - Eastern Airlines Flight 512 pilot error on missed approach.
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1963
- December 8 - Pan Am Flight 214 struck by positive lightning
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1965
- February 8 - Eastern Airlines Flight 663 crashed during evasion maneuver.
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1968
- March 24 - Aer Lingus Flight 712 crashes off the Irish coast. The cause is never found, but a stray British missile is popularly blamed.
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1970
- March 31 - Japan Airlines Flight 351
- February 15 - Dominicana DC-9 air disaster
- February 21 - Swissair Flight 330
- July 3 - Dan-Air Comet jet crashed into the sea near Barcelona, Spain during landing approach, killing 112
- July 5 - Air Canada flight 621 DC-8 exploded following a failed landing at Toronto Int'l Airport (now Pearson), with 109 fatalities.
- September 6 - Dawson's Field hijackings of El Al 219, Pan Am 93, SwissAir 100, TWA 74, and (on September 7) BOAC 775.
- November 14 - Southern Airways Flight 932, a charter, crashed on approach at Tri-State/Milton Airport in Huntington, West Virginia, en route from Kinston, North Carolina, killing all 75 on board, including the entire coaching staff and 37 members of the Marshall University football team.
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1971
- November 24 - A man using the name Dan Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines flight 305 out of Portland, Oregon. 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.
- December 24 - The LANSA Lockheed Electra OB-R-941 on a flight from Lima to Pucallpa, Peru, breaks apart in mid-air after being set aflame by lightning. It crashes in the Amazonian Rainforest. 91 people die; the sole survivor is Juliane Koepcke, a 17-year old girl who survives a fall from 2 miles and 10-day walk through the jungle before being found by hunters. Her mother, famous ornithologist Maria Koepcke, dies; director Werner Herzog had narrowly missed being on the same flight.
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1972
- January 26 - JAT Yugoslav Flight 364
- June 18 - British European Airways Flight 548 (Staines air disaster)
- June 24 - Prinair Flight 191
- October 13 - Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 (The Andes flight disaster), see also Alive: The Miracle of the Andes
- December 29 - Eastern Airlines Flight 401
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1973
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1974
- March 3 - Turkish Airlines Flight 981 (Ermenonville air disaster)
- September 8 - TWA Flight 841
- September 15 - Air Vietnam Flight 727 hijacked and crashes.
- November 20 - Lufthansa Flight 540 crashed and caught fire shortly past the runway on take-off. This was the first ever crash involving a Boeing 747.
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1975
- June 24 - Eastern Airlines Flight 66 struck approach lights
- September 30 - Malév Flight 240
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1976
- April 27 - American Airlines Flight 625, a Boeing 727, crashed on approach to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
- October 6 - Cubana Flight 455 bombed, allegedly by Luis Posada Carriles (who has been acquitted twice of it).
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1977
- March 27 - KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736 (Tenerife disaster)
- September 28 - Japan Airlines Flight 472
- October 13 - Lufthansa Flight 707 is hijacked by four Palestinians, members of the PFLP.
- December 4 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 653
- December 13 - National Jet Services DC-3 charter, crashed on takeoff from Evansville, Indiana en route to Nashville International Airport (BNA), killing all 29 on board, including the entire University of Evansville basketball team.
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1978
- January 1 - Air India Flight 855
- April 20 - Korean Air Flight 902
- June 26 - Air Canada Flight 189
- September 25 - PSA Flight 182
- December 28 - United Airlines Flight 173 ran out of fuel.
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1979
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1980
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1982
- January 13 - Air Florida Flight 90, crashed into frozen Potomac river
- January 23 - World Airways Flight 30, landed long at Boston, two missing presumed dead.
- June 23 - British Airways Flight 009, flew through cloud of volcanic dust; all engines failed. Was able to restart engines and make safe landing.
- July 9 - Pan Am Flight 759, crashed in Kenner, Louisiana shortly after takeoff.
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1983
- June 2 - Air Canada Flight 797
- July 16 - Sikorsky S-61 disaster off the Isles of Scilly
- July 23 - Air Canada Flight 143 (Gimli Glider)
- September 1 - Korean Air Flight 7
- September 23 - Gulf Air Flight 771
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1984
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1985
- February 19 - China Airlines Flight 006
- 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
- September 6 - Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105
- November 23 - EgyptAir Flight 648
- December 12 - Arrow Air Flight 1285
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1986
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1987
- 10 March - Pan Am Flight 125 - Cargo door incident
- August 16 - Northwest Airlines Flight 255, crashed on takeoff from DTW, 154 died, one person survived.
- May 9 - LOT Flight 5055
- November 29 - Korean Air Flight 858
- December 7 - Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771
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1988
- March 17 - Avianca Flight 410
- April 28 - Aloha Flight 243, suffered explosive decompression inflight, landed safely; 1 killed, 65 injured.
- July 3 - Iran Air Flight 655, mistakenly shot down by USS Vincennes (CG-49), 290 killed.
- August 31 - Delta Air Lines Flight 1141, crashed on takeoff, 14 killed.
- December 21 - Pan Am Flight 103 (Lockerbie air disaster), terrorist bomb exploded inflight, 270 killed.
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1989
- January 8 - British Midlands Flight 92 (Kegworth air disaster)
- February 24 - United Airlines Flight 811
- March 10 - Air Ontario Flight 1363
- June 7 - Surinam Airways Flight PY764
- July 19 - United Airlines Flight 232 crash landing with no hydraulics
- September 19 - UTA Flight 772
- November 27 - Avianca Flight 203
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1990
- January 25 - Avianca Flight 52
- June 10 - British Airways Flight 5390 Front windscreen blows out under cabin pressure.
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1991
- February 1 - USAir Flight 1493
- March 3 - United Airlines Flight 585
- March 26 - Singapore Airlines Flight 117 hijacked
- May 26 - Lauda Air Flight 004
- December 27 Scandinavian Airlines Flight 751
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1992
- March 22 - USAir Flight 405 crashed on takeoff.
- October 4 - Bijlmer Disaster: El Al Flight 1862 crashes on 2 apartment buildings in Amsterdam
- December 21 - Martinair MP 495 crashed in Faro, Portugal killing 54 persons and injuring 106.
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1993
- September 21 - Transair Georgian Airline Crash (21 September)
- September 22 - Transair Georgian Airline Crash (22 September)
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1994
- April 26 - China Airlines Flight 140
- July 2 - USAir Flight 1016
- 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
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1995
- March 31 - a Tarom Airbus A310 crashed into a field near Baloteşti, Romania, killing 60 people
- July 11 - a Cubana de Aviación Antonov An-24 crashed into the Caribbean off the southeastern coast of Cuba killing 44 people.
- August 21 - Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 crashed in a field in Carrollton, Georgia
- December 18 - Trans Service Airlift Lockheed L-188 crash
- December 20 - American Airlines Flight 965
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1996
- February 6 - Birgenair Flight 301
- February 29 - Faucett Flight 251
- May 11 - Valujet Flight 592
- July 17 - TWA Flight 800
- August 29 - Vnukovo Airlines Flight 5862 crashes on Svalbard killing 141.
- October 2 - AeroPeru Flight 603
- November 12 - Saudia Flight 763, crashed with Kazakhstan Air Lines Ilyushin 76 cargo jet.
- November 23 - Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961
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1997
- August 6 - Korean Air Flight 801
- December 19 - Silkair Flight 185, Boeing 737-300 abruptly crashed into the Musi River near Palembang, Sumatra from cruising altitude, killing all 102 passengers and crew. The exact cause of the crash, Silkair's first fatality, remains a mystery.
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1998
- February 16 - China Airlines Flight 676
- March 22 - Philippine Airlines Flight 137
- September 2 - Swissair Flight 111
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1999
- June 1 - American Airlines Flight 1420
- July 24 - All Nippon Airways Flight 61
- August 22 - Mandarin Airlines Flight 642
- 23 September - Qantas Flight 1
- October 31 - EgyptAir Flight 990
- December 24-December 31 - Indian Airlines Flight 814
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2000
- January 30 - Kenya Airways Flight 431, an Airbus A310, carrying 179 passengers and crew, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the Ivory Coast after takeoff from Abidjan. Only ten people survived.
- January 31 - Alaska Airlines Flight 261, 88 fatalities.
- March 5 - Southwest Airlines Flight 1455, Boeing 737-300 overran the runway at Burbank airport 43 passengers injured, 2 seriously. No fatalities
- July 17 - Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Indian Airlines, Flight CD 7412 crashes into government housing in Patna, Bihar, as it approached the aiport, killing 60, including 5 people on the ground. Crash was blamed on loss of control due to pilot error.
- July 25 - Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde flight, crashes on take-off
- October 31 - Singapore Airlines Flight 006, Boeing 747-412 crashed into construction equipment after using a closed runway for takeoff, killing 83 out of 179 passengers and crew. It was the first fatal accident involving an SIA plane.
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2001
- July 3 - A Vladivostokavia Tupolev Tu-154 jetliner crashes on approach to landing at Irkutsk, Russia killing 145
- 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 - The "shoe-bomber" flight.
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2002
- January 14 - Lion Air Flight JT-386
- 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
- October 25 - Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) along with seven others killed when their Beechcraft King Air A100 near Eveleth, Minnesota
- November 6 - Luxair Flight 9642
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2003
- January 8 - U.S. Airways Flight 5481 out of Charlotte, NC
- March 6 - Air Algerie Flight 6289
- April 1 - a Cubana de Aviación Antonov An-24 was forced to fly to Key West, Florida by a man with hand grenades
- December 25 - UTA Flight 141
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2004
- January 3 - Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea, killing all 135 passengers and 13 crew.
- May 9 - American Eagle Flight 1450 damaged by high winds during landing at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, San Juan. 13 minor injuries, no fatalities.
- August 24 - Siberia Airlines Flight 1047, one of the Russian airplane bombings of August 2004, 38 passengers and 8 crew members were onboard the plane. All died.
- August 24 - Volga-AviaExpress Flight 1303, one of the Russian airplane bombings of August 2004, 34 passengers and 9 crew members were onboard the plane. All of them died in the crash.
- November 21 - China Eastern Flight 5210, crashed after takeoff due to snow and ice on control surfaces. 53 passengers and two people on the ground killed.
- November 30 - Lion Air Flight 538, a crash landing in Surakarta, Central Java Indonesia, killing 26 passengers.
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2005
- January 13 - A Tura Air Enterprise Antonov An-2 airplane crashes in Tura, Russia while landing in bad weather conditions, killing all seven passengers and two crewmembers.
- February 3 - Kam Air Flight 904 crashes in a snowstorm in Afghanistan. All 96 passengers and eight crewmembers died.
- February 10 - An Action Air Express, Inc. Cessna P210N airplane crashed into a mountain during turbulence near Lebec, California. Both the pilot and the single passenger died.
- March 16 - A Regional Airlines Antonov An-24 airplane carrying oil workers to Varandey, Russia crashed five kilometers from the runway. A mixture of bad weather and pilot error caused the crash. Twenty-six of the 45 passengers died as well as two of the seven crewmembers.
- March 26 - A West Caribbean Airways L-410 crashed into a hill killing six of the 12 passengers and the two crewmembers. (See West Caribbean Airways for more information.)
- April 12 - A GT Air de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter airplane crashed in Enarotali, Indonesia killing all of the 15 passengers and two crewmembers.
- April 20 - A Saha Airlines Services Boeing 707 airplane made a hard landing and veered off the runway into the Kan River. Three of the 157 passengers drowned during the evacuation.
- May 4 - A Kisangani Airlift Antonov An-26 airplane crashed after it’s engine hit a tree all five crewmembers died, but one of the six passengers survived.
- May 7 - An Aero-Tropics Swearingen SA-227AC Metro III airplane crashed at Lockhart River in Queensland, Australia. All onboard, 13 passengers and two crewmembers died. (See Aero-Tropics Air Services for more information.)
- May 16 - A chartered Transportes Aereos Don Carlos Beech 65-A80 Queenaire aircraft crashed a few minutes after taking off from El Portezulo, Argentina killing all nine passengers and the pilot.
- May 25 - A chartered Maniema Union Antonov An-28 airplane owned by Victoria Air crashed into a mountain near Walungu Congo about 30 minutes after takeoff. All of the 22 passengers and five crewmembers were killed.
- June 2 - A Marsland Aviation Antonov AN-24B's engine caught on fire during takeoff. The plane crashed at the end of the runway in Khartoom, Sudan. Three of the 36 passengers died.
- July 16 - An Ecuatair Antonov AN-24B crashed shortly after takeoff from Baney, Equatorial Guinea killing all 54 passengers and 6 crewmembers.
- August 2 - Air France Flight 358 skids off a runway in Toronto while landing and catches fire; all 309 aboard escaped without fatalities or serious injuries.
- August 6 - A Tuninter ATR-72 heading from Italy to Tunisia crashes into the Mediterranean Sea, killing 16 of 39 onboard. (See Tuninter for more information.)
- August 10 - A Copterline Sikorsky S-76C+ helicopter crashed in the ocean off of Tallinn, Estonia is windy conditions. All onboard, 12 passengers and two crewmembers were killed.
- August 14 - Helios Airways Flight 522 crashes near Kalamos, Greece with 115 passenger and 6 crewmembers onboard; there were no survivors.
- August 16 - West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes in western Venezuela. All aboard, 152 passengers and 8 crewmembers died.
- August 23 - TANS Peru Flight 204 crashes in Peru. Of the 92 passengers onboard, 40 died as well as four of the six crewmembers.
- September 5 - A Kavatshi Airlines Antonov 26B cargo airplane crashed into a tree and caught on fire during foggy weather while landing at Isiro, Congo, Democratic Republic of the. Everyone on board, four crewmembers and three passengers, died.
- September 5 - Mandala Airlines Flight 091 crashes in Medan, Indonesia, killing 103 of the 111 passengers and all five crewmembers on the plane and an additional 47 people on the ground.
- September 21 - JetBlue Airways Flight 292 makes an emergency landing in Los Angeles. The passengers are able to watch the incident unfold on live television.
- September 9 - An Air Kasai Antonov An-26 airplane crashed near Brazzaville Republic of the Congo. All 14 people onboard were died.
- October 22 - Bellview Airlines Flight 210, with 114 on board, crashed in central Nigeria.
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