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photo-article-logo Monday, 23 March 2026

A global timeline of the deadliest aviation disasters in recent years

While modern aviation boasts an impressive safety record, a number of fatal incidents in recent years have underscored the complexities of air travel

Our Web Desk, Reuters Published 23.03.26, 03:46 PM
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Debris hangs from a damaged Air Canada Express jet that had collided with a fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York, U.S., March 23, 2026. (Image by Reuters)
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The pilot and co-pilot of an Air Canada Express regional jet were killed after the flight, carrying 76 people, collided with a fire truck while landing at New York's LaGuardia airport late on Sunday.

While recent years have been considerably safer for aviation, there have been several fatal crashes in the past few years that have been noted below. 

2025

India 

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Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner lies at the site where the Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. (Image by Reuters)

Hundreds of people were killed in June when an Air India plane, headed for London’s Gatwick Airport, crashed minutes after taking off from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. All but one of the 242 people on board were killed, while 19 others on the ground also perished.

United States 

In November, a UPS cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Louisville, Kentucky, killing seven people and injuring 11 others on the ground.

In another incident on January 29, more than 60 people lost their lives when an American Airlines regional jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and plunged into the icy Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

2024.

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2025 Potomac River mid-air collision (Wikipedia)

South Korea 

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Jeju air crash (Wikipedia)

Jeju Air international flight 7C2216 crashed at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29, 2024, killing all 175 passengers and four of the six crew members in the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil.

Kazakhstan

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A drone view shows emergency specialists working at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan. (Reuters file photo)

Azerbaijan Airlines international flight J2-8243, an Embraer E190, crashed on December 25 after being diverted from Russia to Kazakhstan, killing 38 people. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said in December the plane was damaged by accidental shooting from the ground in Russia. Moscow has not confirmed this.

Japan

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An aerial view shows burnt Japan Airlines' (JAL) Airbus A350 plane after a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan. (Reuters file photo)

A Japan Airlines (JAL) plane collided with a smaller Coast Guard aircraft on the runway of Tokyo's Haneda airport on January 2. The flight flew from New Chitose Airport near Sapporo, Japan, while the Coast Guard plane was scheduled to deliver relief supplies a day after the 2024 Noto earthquake. All 379 people aboard the JAL plane, an Airbus A350-941 flight, escaped the burning airliner. Five of six crew on the smaller aircraft were killed.

2022

China

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The vrash site (Wikipedia)

A China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 crashed into a mountainous region in the southwestern Guangxi region on March 21, 2022, killing all 132 people on board, in China's deadliest aviation disaster in 28 years.

2020

Iran

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Ukrainian aircraft shot down (Reuters file photo)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards shot down a Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 on Jan. 8, 2020 shortly after it took off from Tehran Airport, killing all 176 people on board. Iran's civil aviation body blamed a misaligned radar and an error by an air defence operator.

2019

Ethiopia 

A Boeing 737-MAX 8 Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed on March 19, 2019 minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa for Nairobi, killing all 157 people on board. Soon after, the Boeing 737 MAX global fleet was grounded over safety concerns.

2018

Indonesia 

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Lion air flight (Wikipedia)

A Boeing 737 MAX Lion Air plane crashed into the Java Sea soon after taking off from Jakarta on October 29, 2018, killing all 189 people on board.

2014

Malaysia 

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Malaysia Airlines Flight (Wikipedia)

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, and was shot down over eastern Ukraine as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces. All 298 passengers on board were killed.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. The remains of the Boeing 777 and the 239 people have not been found

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