Deadliest Plane Crashes Of All Time

1.Korean Airline Flight 007 A Political Tragedy:

What happens when your passenger plane accidentally strays too far into military airspace, and you watch as missiles fly past your window? That is the story of the doomed passengers of KAL 007 an aviation tragedy involving two superpowers already engaged in a proxy war.

Brewing tensions between the Soviet Union and the USA were exacerbated on September 1, 1983, when KAL 007 deviated from its flight path ever-so-slightly to find itself close to the Russian airspace and, consequently, on the Soviet radar. Coincidentally, there happened to be a US air force plane Boeing 707 on a spy mission. It so happened that the Soviets misidentified the KAL 007 (a passenger plane with 269 passengers on board) for the Boeing 707. Initially, warning shots were fired, after which air-to-air missiles struck the aircraft as it neared the international airspace. The tragedy-struck plane continued to fly for a little more than 90 seconds before it eventually crashed in Japanese waters.

One month later, the Soviets had discovered the plane’s black box but did not make its contents public. This meant that the investigation launched by the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) failed to provide definitive answers. It laid the groundwork for conspiracy theorists to claim that the plane had safely landed in Russia, after which the passenger and the crew were captured as political prisoners. What really happened in that cockpit to cause the plane to change its route remains a mystery to this day.

2.The Tenerife Airport Disaster :

Often referred to as the ‘world’s worst airline disaster’ and understandably so the havoc wreaked at the Tenerife Airport encompassed an aviation mishap that no one saw coming: two giant commercial aircraft colliding on the runway. A plane crash is never a single isolated event. Instead, it almost always involves a chronological string of events with a direct cause and effect relationship. Such was the case with the Tenerife Airport Disaster that was kickstarted with the terrorist attack on the Gran Canaria Airport (LPA), resulting in flights being diverted to Tenerife.

The next fatal event came with Captain Van Zanten’s decision to refuel the plane; KLM Boeing 747. KLM’s duty-time limits had encouraged Mr. Zanten to refuel the plane while at Tenerife in an attempt to save both time and money. What initially appeared to be a seemingly inconsequential decision would soon lead to a domino effect that resulted in the loss of 583 lives. The refuelling caused a delay which meant that the weather conditions worsened as a thick blanket of fog loomed over Tenerife. Secondly, the plane became significantly heavier, requiring more of the runway to get airborne.

Next came the communication breakdown. This was primarily rooted in the airport’s unusual traffic that day, coupled with the fact that the ATC and airline pilots were speaking three different languages; Dutch, English, and Spanish. A Pan Am airline was driven onto the runway when the KLM aircraft was completing its 180-degree turn, but because of the fog, the two pilots were unable to see that they were both on the runway at the same time. Both pilots also received ATC route clearance from the tower.

Even though route clearance is not an indication to take off, both pilots (possibly frustrated by the constant delays) interpreted it as that. An attempt is then made to prevent what now looked like an unavoidable disaster when the Pan Am pilot radios the tower and informs them that they were still on the runway. The tower then tries to relay this information to the KLM Captain and tells him to await permission to take off, but these instructions are lost midway amidst the confusion. What follows is a head-on collision as KLM 747’s undercarriage strikes Pan Ams midsection, engulfing it in multiple explosions.

Sadly, it was only after 583 lives were lost on that fateful day that the aviation industry sought to improve the standardisation of the phraseology in its radio communications.

3.American Airline 191 An Engineering Defect:

This one was doomed from the very start (quite literally). When the 258 passengers climbed aboard the American Airline 191, they could have never predicted that the flight would last only 31 seconds before lunging back towards terra firma, killing everyone in one swift crash.

Just as it was about to take off, the three-engine McDonnell Douglas DC-10 lost its left engine together with the aircraft’s left-wing. Black box recordings of the cockpit would later reveal the pilot’s surprise at this initial accident in one disgruntled ‘Damn.’ Those would be the last words captured by the voice recorder before everything went silent.

The plane maintained balance as it continued to rise despite its left-wing entirely missing. However, as it reached 300 feet, it tipped leftwards. Slowly, it began to thrust downwards. Onlookers watched as disaster struck; Flight 191 crashed in an open field nearby, going up in a flurry of flames and ash, killing all 258 passengers on board, together with two men on the ground. The thick black smoke and the fire’s intensity meant that bodies had been burned beyond recognition, and many resources were needed to identify the victims, including many orthodontists and forensic scientists.

4.Air India Plane A Failed Attempt:

On the 23rd of June, 1985, remnants of an Air India plane were scattered over the Atlantic Ocean. Khalistanis, Canadian Sikh extremists, had planted a bomb in the plane, causing it to disintegrate mid-air while on its way to London from Montreal. This explosion claimed the lives of 239 people, resulting in the largest mass killing in Canadian history. The tragedy has been cemented in history as the deadliest aviation incident in Air India’s history and the deadliest act of aviation terrorism before 2001.

More interesting, however, is the timing of the explosion. Many believe that it was linked to the failed Narita airport bombing. Investigators suspect that the perpetrators were aiming for a double aircraft bombing. Fortunately, their plan failed when they forgot to consider that Japan does not observe daylight saving time. As a result, the bomb exploded before it was loaded on the plane.

The only person to have been convicted was Inderjit Singh Reyad, a member of the ISYF, who pleaded guilty for manslaughter. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The investigation into this tragedy lasted almost 20 years making it the most expensive trial in Canadian history. Since then, Canada’s government has paid tribute to the victims by providing a one-time ex gratia payment to the families.

5.9/11: The One that Changed it All:

The most consequential plane crash involving a series of crashes that changed the way all international and national airports operated happened on September 11, 2001, when multiple planes were hijacked by Muslim terrorists working for Al-Qaeda. Four airliners headed to California were hijacked by 19 terrorists that went on board the aircrafts undetected. Osama Bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaeda, was the mastermind behind the crimes, and after the September 11 attacks, he quickly became the most wanted man on Earth.

The plan was set in motion a whole year before the actual attacks. Bin Laden chose people from Germany to lead the mission as they were fluent in English and had experience living in the West. They took on flying lessons in the United States to prepare themselves for the crash. On the early morning of September 11, four aeroplanes, two Boeing 757s and two Boeing 767s were hijacked. American Airlines Flight 11 and 77, and United Airlines Flight 175 and 93, had 213 passengers and 33 aircraft crew on board.

Soon after the planes were en route, the hijackers subdued some of the staff and expressed their intent for hijacking the plane. They made their way to the cockpits and took control over the aircraft soon after that. After taking over, the path of the planes was changed towards their respective targets.

At 8:46 am, American Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center by the five terrorists on board. Less than twenty minutes later, at 9:03, United Airlines Flight 175 was crashed into the South Tower. Both of the towers instantly caught fire and would soon collapse less than 2 hours later, killing thousands of people trapped inside. Flight 77 of American Airlines made its way to the Pentagon and crashed into the Western facade at 9:37 am, killing everyone on board. The last aircraft to go down failed to reach its destination as the heroics of the passengers caused a ruffle in the cockpit with the hijackers. In the commotion, the plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, once again, killing everyone on board.

There were nearly 3,000 people who died and over 25,000 injured, with over $10 billion lost due to infrastructure damages. This incident is by far the deadliest crash that happened and kickstarted a 10-year struggle and war on terrorism, after which the culprit, Osama bin Laden, was finally caught and killed on May 2, 2011.