The Ahmedabad plane accident definitely jogs one's memory.
Aviation, while statistically one of the safest modes of transport, has seen moments of devastating failure. Mechanical faults, human errors, communication gaps and structural flaws have at times aligned to cause mass casualties.
Here are some of the worst air crashes in history — cases that redefined safety protocols, exposed dangerous loopholes, and left behind lessons written in tragedy.
Tenerife Airport Disaster (1977)
On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747s — KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736 —collided on the runway of Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport) in Spain’s Canary Islands, killing 583 people. It remains the deadliest aviation accident in history.
Both aircraft were initially headed to Gran Canaria Airport. A terrorist bombing there forced diversions to Los Rodeos, a much smaller airport. Congestion at the airport meant aircraft had to taxi on the runway itself. Miscommunication between the KLM crew and air traffic control, combined with thick fog, led the KLM aircraft to begin takeoff while the Pan Am jet was still taxiing on the same runway. The KLM aircraft slammed into the Pan Am jet at high speed.
All 248 people onboard the KLM flight died. On the Pan Am flight, 335 were killed. Sixty-one survived by escaping through the forward fuselage before the fire engulfed the aircraft.
Japan Airlines Flight 123 (1985)
Japan Airlines Flight 123 took off from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on August 12, 1985, bound for Osaka. Twelve minutes later, the Boeing 747 suffered explosive decompression due to a faulty repair of the aft pressure bulkhead — a repair carried out seven years earlier by Boeing after a tail strike incident.
The decompression caused the vertical stabiliser to shear off and destroyed all four hydraulic systems, leaving the aircraft uncontrollable. It crashed into Mount Takamagahara. Of the 524 onboard, 520 were killed. The four survivors were all women.
The crash is the deadliest single-aircraft accident in history. Investigations found that 20 to 50 people may have initially survived the crash but later died due to delays in rescue efforts caused by the mountainous terrain and darkness.
Turkish Airlines Flight 981 (1974)
On March 3, 1974, Turkish Airlines Flight 981, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, crashed into the Ermenonville Forest near Paris shortly after taking off from Orly Airport. All 346 people onboard were killed.
The cause was explosive decompression triggered by the failure of the rear cargo door, which had not been properly latched. The design of the door allowed it to appear closed even when unsecured. When the door failed at about 11,000 feet, it caused a section of the cabin floor above it to collapse. Six passengers seated in that section were ejected from the aircraft.
The crash exposed a critical design flaw in the DC-10’s cargo door mechanism and led to widespread changes in aircraft design and maintenance standards.
Charkhi Dadri Mid-Air Collision (1996)
On November 12, 1996, a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakhstan Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 collided mid-air near Charkhi Dadri, Haryana, killing all 349 people onboard both aircraft. It remains the deadliest mid-air collision in aviation history.
The Kazakh aircraft descended below its assigned altitude, entering the path of the ascending Saudi aircraft. Investigators noted the Kazakh crew’s poor English skills and reliance on a radio operator, which hampered communication with Indian air traffic control.
Differences in measurement units (Kazakh crew using meters and kilometers, while India used feet and nautical miles) may have caused confusion, the final report said.
Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 163 (1980)
A fire broke out in the aft cargo compartment of Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 163 on August 19, 1980, shortly after it took off from Riyadh. The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar made a successful emergency landing, but all 301 people onboard — 287 passengers and 14 crew died.
Despite the landing, the aircraft taxied off the runway and came to a stop on a taxiway. No evacuation was attempted. The aircraft remained sealed and pressurized, preventing the smoke from venting. Everyone onboard succumbed to smoke inhalation, mainly carbon monoxide poisoning.
American Airlines Flight 191 (1979)
On May 25, 1979, American Airlines Flight 191 crashed moments after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. All 271 onboard were killed, along with two people on the ground.
The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, lost its left engine during takeoff. The engine detached from the wing and flipped over the top, damaging the leading edge and systems connected to the wing. This led to a loss of hydraulic power and the retraction of the leading-edge slats, reducing lift on the left wing.
The plane rolled to the left and crashed into a field about 4,600 feet from the runway. Investigators found that improper maintenance procedures used during engine removal had damaged the pylon structure, causing the engine to detach.