The worst plane crashes in the world: review, history and interesting facts. How many planes crash per year How many passenger planes crash in the world

There is no doubt that man's conquest of the heavens is one of the most significant achievements of progress. But there is no success without defeats, hence the many plane crashes, resulting in thousands of victims. What are the biggest plane crashes in the history of mankind?

USA, September 11, 2001

This terrible, bloody disaster is the result of a terrorist attack committed in New York; it became the most discussed event that has ever happened. 16 years ago, three planes controlled by terrorists deliberately crashed into two skyscrapers, causing them to collapse, and into the Pentagon building.

As a result of the terrible accident, almost 3,000 citizens of different countries were killed at the World Trade Center.

According to official statements, an ultra-radical organization called Al-Qaeda, consisting of Wahhabi Muslims, was responsible for the attack. The version was subsequently confirmed by facts, but not everyone was convinced. A huge number of independent investigations were carried out, the results of which produced documentaries. For example, there is a theory that the Twin Towers acted only as a diversionary maneuver, and that it was not Muslims who ordered the terrorist attack, but the American government.

16,000 people managed to escape from the skyscrapers and subsequently gave interviews and shared their memories. Many of them wrote books and articles about the event.

There is a memorial at the site of the tragedy; Every day flowers are brought to him in memory of the terrible disaster

In all disasters, there is some duality: it is often difficult to understand whether there are those responsible for this event, or whether everything happened due to circumstances beyond human control. The tragedy in Tenerife was no exception. It seems like it's just an incredible confluence of many different factors. At Los Rodeos airport, a collision occurred between two Boeing 747s, the largest passenger airliners of that time. There are 583 people killed, including children.


Airplane passengers were looking forward to a holiday on the sunny Canary Islands

It all started with a terrorist attack in a flower shop on the neighboring island of Gran Canaria, where one person was killed. And then - a whole chain of terrible events. Soon, an anonymous person called the police, reporting explosives planted in the airport terminal. All passengers and staff were evacuated as quickly as possible, scheduled airport flights were canceled and redirected to the airport of Tenerife. Among the diverted planes were two overcrowded charter flights from the United States and the Netherlands.

In addition to the two giant Boeing 747s, there were other flights planning to land at this airport. The small main road was completely occupied. In addition, the weather had turned bad, and the experienced pilots were in a hurry and tired. The last straw was mixed up radio messages, which led the Dutch pilot to believe he had been cleared to take off. All this accumulation of unpleasant moments led to the fact that in dense fog at exactly 17 hours 6 minutes there was a terrifying collision of two giants, one of which opened the other like a tin can. No one had a chance to survive; all the passengers and crew of one plane were burned alive.


61 people survived the plane crash

The worst plane crashes in the world most often occur due to technical problems or human error. In August 1985, a Boeing 747 airbus suffered a terrible crash near Tokyo. He lost control, causing him to collide with a mountain peak. 520 people died, and Japan could not recover from the shock for a long time. The press persistently demanded that the airline's owners conduct a thorough investigation and punish those responsible.

A letter was found with one of the victims, describing in detail everything that happened on the plane before the tragedy. The man said goodbye to his family and friends, carefully set the time, then put the letter in his driver's license, which he put in his back pocket.

The cause of the accident was that twelve minutes after the aircraft took off, the vertical stabilizer on the tail fell off. The crew managed to keep the uncontrollable airbus in the air for another half hour, but tragedy could not be avoided.


Only 4 people survived the plane crash

On this day, one of the largest air disasters in the world occurred at the Shymkent airport. An IL-76TD transport aircraft operated by Air Kazakhstan took off into the sky. He was about to take a charter flight to Delhi, India. There were 26 adults, one child and ten airline employees on board. Two hours later the plane requested to land at the airfield. Within fifteen minutes he should have been on solid ground.

Everything was going well, but at 18:47 a Boeing 747 departing for Saudi Arabia began to take off from the airport. Most of its passengers are Indians heading for seasonal work in oil production. Having risen to a height of 3 km, the pilot requested permission for further ascent. The dispatcher refused, but there was no response from the Boeing pilot, and it is still unclear why. However, according to records from the black boxes, it was found that the pilot was warned about an airbus flying towards him.


349 people died instantly

On the screen, the dispatcher saw how the points of the two airliners met. This often happens when one flies under the other. And just a split second later they should have dispersed again, but this did not happen; instead, the dots completely disappeared from the screen. The frightened dispatcher requested both aircraft, but received no response.

As it turned out, the Boeing collided with the IL, ripping the fuselage in the center. More than five hundred tons of twisted iron fell down, narrowly missing the nearest villages.


After the disaster, the wreckage burned for 4 hours

A terrible plane crash occurred on this day. The DC-10 airliner landed at Orly airfield in Paris. It was the day after a significant rugby match and hundreds of fans were now rushing to get home. Fortunately, not all tickets were sold out; there were almost two hundred empty seats. There were 345 people on board including crew members. The landing process took a little longer, so the departure took place 10 minutes later than planned.

At an altitude of 7 km, the rear cargo compartment door opened - the lock was not securely closed. The door was blown away by the wind along with part of the paneling. Due to decompression, a whirlwind rushed into the plane, carrying away two rows of seats along with people. The pilots did not immediately realize what was happening. All three engine control knobs were switched to idle mode. The autopilot has disconnected. After this, the liner was sharply thrown to the left side, simultaneously turning its nose towards the ground.


There were no survivors of the plane crash

The pilots could not control the controls because the mechanisms failed. Just 10 seconds after the start of the accident, the airliner rushed to the ground at a speed of 580 km/h, completely out of control, and after 77 seconds it collided with a mountainside overgrown with trees. The accident was so severe that there was absolutely nothing left of the plane and its passengers, there was nothing even to burn. In an attempt to find the largest parts, one of the landing gear legs was discovered in the forest.

This is the most famous plane crash to occur over water. No one could escape in it. The Boeing 474 airliner was flying from Montreal to Bombay. When the plane was flying over the neutral waters of the Atlantic, a terrible explosion occurred on board. Everything happened so quickly that the crew was not even able to send a distress signal to the dispatcher. The plane quickly fell apart in the sky.


From the data obtained from the black box recordings, it turned out that terrorists were responsible for the explosion

During hostilities in the Donetsk region, a Malaysian Boeing 777 airliner was shot down, returning from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The plane crashed to the ground near the village of Grabovo, instantly killing absolutely everyone inside, almost 300 people. This is the worst plane crash since the 2001 terrorist attack in the United States. The Ukrainian side completely denies its involvement in the event, while blaming Russia.

The plane flew over Ukraine at an altitude of 9.5 km, later 10 km. At 14:15 the plane stopped responding to dispatcher requests, this was 50 km before the Russian-Ukrainian border. According to the plan, he was supposed to cross the border at 17:25. No distress signals were issued before the disaster.


Burning wreckage of the plane was found on the territory of Ukraine, scattered within a radius of 15 km

The An-32B aircraft was flying from the airport of the capital of Congo, Kinshasa, in difficult weather conditions. On board were consumer goods, as well as two passengers and, of course, the crew. Takeoff began at 11:40; after 44 seconds, when the front landing gear should have lifted off the runway, this did not happen. Three seconds later, the pilot attempted to interrupt the takeoff process by removing the lever, and then remove the propellers from the stop.

The airfield had no barriers at the end of the runway, and beyond it there is a drainage ditch, behind which there is a city market. Colliding with the parapet of the ditch, the plane drove straight into the market, drove through the shopping rows, and as a result of the collision with them, an unexpected fire occurred. The plane's flight mechanic was killed, and the rest of the people on board were seriously injured. But almost 300 people at the market died on the ground.


The plane was overloaded and therefore could not take off

Shortly after the L-1011 passenger plane took off from the airport in Riyadh and was about to head to the city of Jeddah, a fire broke out on board. The pilots managed to make an emergency landing, but as soon as the plane touched the ground and its doors opened, it was completely engulfed in flames. The door to the passenger compartment was opened only after 20 minutes. According to data received later, the passengers had already died from severe carbon monoxide poisoning at that time.

Five minutes later the fire was extinguished. The plane burned almost entirely, leaving only the wings and the vertical stabilizer on the tail. 301 people died - everyone on board.


Rescuers took a long time to understand the instructions in English, which led to a delay in the rescue operation

Just minutes after taking off from Bandar Abbas airport, the A300 airliner was shot down by a US attack missile fired from the ground. Everyone who was inside died, that's 290 people. The cruiser that launched the missile was in Iranian waters at the time. The US government said the cruiser mistook the A300 for an Iranian plane taking off for military purposes. This version caused a lot of criticism. Be that as it may, the official report justified the incident by citing the stressful state of the cruiser’s crew, as well as the external similarity of the A300 to military aircraft.

According to the Iranians, the attack was completely deliberate, designed to put pressure on the country's government to conclude a truce with Iran. This would be beneficial to the United States.


The disaster is considered the most tragic of those that did not occur due to a fall, collision or terrorist attack

Today, airliners are the most comfortable and fastest mode of transport, allowing you to cross the entire globe in a matter of hours. On terra firma, an airplane seems large and reliable, but it turns out that in the sky it can be almost defenseless. Nevertheless, you should not expose yourself to fears, because according to statistics, plane crashes kill the least number of people out of all types of transport accidents.

Every day, about 100 thousand aircraft take off and approximately the same number make a successful landing. At the same time, the statistics of fatalities increases by no more than 1000 per year - this is comparatively less compared to those killed in road accidents in just a month around the world.

How often do planes crash statistics?

How many planes crash per year is a question that interests many people, even those who are not planning to fly. The following data can be provided:

  1. Statistics show that about 10,000 airliners take off into the sky every day.
  2. Approximately 4.5 billion people fly on airplanes – that’s more than half the world’s population.
  3. Of these, about 1,000 people die in plane crashes.
  4. In 100 years of passenger aviation, 150,000 people died.

Statistics of plane crashes in the world

According to global statistics of plane crashes, the leaders are:

  1. Russia
  2. Canada

Where are the most plane crash victims?

(from 1945 - 2013)

  1. USA: 763 disasters, 10,514 victims;
  2. Russia: 307 disasters, 7061 victims;
  3. Canada: 173 disasters, 1,755 victims;
  4. Brazil: 172 disasters, 2681 victims;
  5. Colombia: 164 disasters, 2774 casualties;
  6. Great Britain: 102 disasters, 1278 victims;
  7. France: 101 disasters, 2240 victims;
  8. India: 93 disasters, 2341 victims;
  9. Indonesia: 93 disasters, 1902 casualties;
  10. Mexico: 88 disasters, 1226 victims.

Statistics of plane crashes in Russia

Speaking about our country, it is with bitterness that we have to admit that over the past six years we have taken first place in the world in the number of plane accidents.

So during this time, 38 plane crashes occurred in Russia, in which 378 people died, while in the United States there were only 11 plane accidents.

Airplane crash statistics by airline

Which airlines had the most accidents? To answer this question, you need to rank airlines based on the number of plane crashes.

Turkish Airlines

The most popular and popular (especially among Russian tourists) air carrier has not encountered an air accident since the seventies of the last century, but a series of small incidents, as well as the 2009 disaster near the Dutch Schiphol airport, which claimed nine lives, significantly damaged the airline’s reputation.

China Airlines

The Taiwanese airline is considered one of the most unsafe in Asia.

Over the past thirty years, about 755 people have died in accidents involving the planes of this air carrier, which gives reason to suspect this company of an unprofessional approach to the issue of the safety of its customers.

Korean Airlines

South Korea's largest airline has spent more than a billion US dollars on various passenger amenities. The ships of this company constantly get into some small accidents, fortunately, so far there are no casualties. The last tragic incident occurred back in 1997.

Saudi Arabian Airlines

The main airline of Saudi Arabia. Since the year 2000, it has had a reputation as a not very safe company; various incidents often occur with the aircraft of this carrier, although only one person died in them (in a crush that occurred during the evacuation), the frequency of various incidents involving aircraft of this company is very alarming.

Skywest Airlines

A well-known American airline specializing in local transportation. After the 1990s, which dealt a serious blow to the company's reputation, it was only marked by the 2008 disaster in San Antonio. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but the carrier's reputation was dealt a serious blow.

South African Airways

The largest airline in South Africa, specializing in domestic and international flights. The company's reputation was ruined by a failed terrorist from Zimbabwe who hijacked a plane belonging to the carrier in 2006. No one was injured as a result of the incident, and although responsibility lies with the airport security service, this did not save the carrier’s reputation from a serious blow.

Aeroflot plane crash

Several dozen airlines are registered in our country. To determine their reliability and safety, a company is assessed according to various criteria, one of which is the technical safety of aircraft. The European Aviation Safety Agency has compiled a rating of the most reliable air carriers, the list of which includes the domestic company Aeroflot.

The company was founded in 1923. After the collapse of the USSR, many small carriers separated from it. In 1992, Aeroflot-Russian International Airlines JSC was created, which marked the beginning of the modern history of the airline. Today Aeroflot is the largest air carrier in Russia. During the period from 1992 to the present, there have been 4 plane crashes that have claimed lives. There is also information about 5 more accidents, which, fortunately, resulted in no casualties.

The most famous disaster that occurred in the entire history of the airline is the tragedy near Mezhdurechensk. In the spring of 1994, a passenger plane en route from Moscow to Hong Kong crashed. During the investigation, it turned out that the crash was due to the fault of the aircraft commander. The man put his fifteen-year-old son at the helm. This disaster claimed the lives of 75 people.

When traveling to another country, people are interested not only in the reliability of airlines, but also in the safety of the aircraft themselves. Therefore, it would not be superfluous to give a rating of the most unreliable and dangerous aircraft.

The Boeing 737 was recognized as one of the dangerous aircraft, since most of the accidents occurred on this type of aircraft.


IL 76 is also considered an unsafe aircraft, since it was on this ship that a major disaster occurred 13 years ago, which claimed many lives

TU 154 was recognized as very dangerous and unreliable; many accidents and emergency situations also occurred on this airliner.

The Airbus A 310 is also notorious; it was on this ship that a disaster occurred on June 30, 2009, which claimed more than 150 lives.

McDonnell-Douglas DC 9, this type of aircraft has not been produced for a long time and is out of production, but during its entire existence there have been several accidents resulting in the death of 44 people.

2016 turned out to be the busiest year in terms of aviation accidents. This conclusion can be reached by referring to the statistics of plane crashes that occurred during this period.

On February 24, a DHC-6 passenger plane crashed in Nepal; there were 20 passengers and 3 crew members on board. As a result of the disaster, no one managed to survive.

A month later, on March 9, AN 26 crashed in Bangladesh, the plane fell into the sea. There were 4 people on board, all of them were citizens of Ukraine. As a result, three people died, and only one managed to survive.

On the night of March 19 of the same year, a Boeing 737 plane crashed in Rostov-on-Don while climbing, the airliner began a sharp descent and crashed onto the airport runway. There were 55 people and 7 crew members on board. As a result of the plane crash, everyone on board died.

Two months later, on May 18, AN 12 B crashed in Dwyer. There were 9 people on board. As a result of the crash, 7 people died, only two technicians managed to survive.

The next day, May 19, another disaster occurred when an Airbus A 320 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. All 66 people (56 passengers, 10 crew members) on board died.


Two months later, on July 1, while extinguishing forest fires, due to poor visibility, the transport plane IL 76 of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations crashed. All 10 crew members on board died.

Six months later, on 28 November, a BAe 146 crashed in Colombia due to fuel shortage. There were 77 people on board. As a result of the incident, 71 people died and only 6 people were saved.

A month later, on December 7, an ATR 42 plane crashed near the city of Havelian. All 47 people on board were killed.

On December 25 of the same year, a major disaster occurred: the TU 154 aircraft of the Russian Air Force, as a result of an error by the crew commander during landing, crashed and was completely destroyed. All 92 people on board were killed.

In general, looking at the statistics, we can conclude that traveling by plane is much safer than by land; according to estimates, the probability of dying in a plane crash is 1:8,000,000. Therefore, you should not be afraid to fly on airliners, because the risk of dying on the ground is much higher than in the air.

Plane crash statistics for 2017


Over the past months of this year, there have been only 4 plane crashes, which is significantly less than in 2016.

On January 16, a Boeing 747 crashed while landing. As a result of the incident, 39 people were killed and 14 were injured.

Three months later, on March 20, while landing, an accident occurred with the AN 26 aircraft. As a result of the incident, 37 people were injured.

On April 29, AN 26 crashed. There were 8 people on board. Everyone on board died.

Three months later, on June 7, the Y8 airliner crashed, half an hour after the plane took off, the airliner crashed into the Andaman Sea. There were 122 people on board. As a result of the disaster, no one managed to survive.

Every day in the world someone asks the question - what are the statistics of plane crashes? After all, every minute any air transport is exposed to the same risk of crash:

  • passenger;
  • cargo;
  • military.

Statistics of plane crashes in the world indicate that in recent years most often occurred in the United States. Unfortunately, Russia's rating is second place. The United States is trying to improve the situation, especially with passenger transportation. The Russian government pays more attention to military aircraft.

Under the Soviet Union, aircraft crash statistics were difficult to accurately determine, as they were almost always kept silent. Today this is almost impossible to do.


Why do planes crash?

Every person going on an air trip for the first time tries to find information about the main reasons for flying cars. Despite the fact that airplanes are marked as the safest transport in the world, the future passenger does not even think that on land he is accompanied by danger much more often than in the air.

In the United States, looking at each year since 1945, more than 630 disasters have occurred, killing more than 10,500 people.

In Russia and the USSR during this time, less than 307 accidents occurred, where approximately 7,000 fatalities were counted.

In Canada during this period, there were 173 accidents, where approximately 1,755 fatalities were counted.

Ecuador ranks last among countries. The planes of this country crashed the least.

Aircraft crash statistics

Statistics of aircraft accidents in the world highlight the Boeing brand. These aircraft are considered the most dangerous and are most often found in the zone. The Boeings 747 and 737 are highlighted in particular. They are the most frequently crashed.

The statistics of those killed in plane crashes in Russia and other countries on Boeing aircraft is astounding. To avoid trouble, a special accident assessment service strongly recommends correcting certain errors so that this does not happen again in the future.

Many airlines have already stopped transporting people on the Boeing 737, but some countries still operate this brand of aircraft. Despite its poor performance, the Boeing 737 is considered the safest passenger transport.

The Tu 154 is also noted for the number of aircraft crashes in the world. During the period of its use, starting in 1973, at least once every twelve months one of these aircraft crashes. However, experts say that this model is one of the most reliable for transporting passengers. The reasons for their accidents are the carelessness of pilots and dispatchers, since the complexity of the structure of this equipment requires appropriate professionalism and attention.

Statistics of plane crashes in the world by year make it possible to evaluate the actions of specialists who are trying to correct all the shortcomings and make sure that planes are exposed to a minimal risk of crashing. This can be seen on Wikipedia, where a table is provided, both with exact numbers and percentages, showing accidents and the number of fatalities in each of them. The five worst crashes in the last two years:

Year A country Airline Aircraft brand Flight course Number of victims
2015 TaiwanTransAsia AirwaysATR 72Songshan–Kinmen43
2015 GermanyGermanwingsAirbus A320-211Barcelona – Dusseldorf150
2015 RussiaKogalymaviaAirbus-321Sharm el-Sheikh – St. Petersburg224
2016 Russia Boeing 737-800Dubai – Rostov-on-Don62
2016 EgyptEgyptAirA320Paris-Cairo66

Despite all the efforts of the experts, the statistics of plane crashes in the USA and Russia have not changed much. They still rank first. Looking separately at accidents during cargo transportation, we can confidently say that they occur due to improper maintenance and violations of safety rules. Mostly they use old cars, the repair of which no one monitors. And the statistics of plane crashes due to dangerous ones only confirms this.

Often cargo planes are loaded with much more weight than necessary. Considering the still old design, this is the main reason for the crash of such a transport. Airline crash statistics for airlines are difficult to determine. No one can say with certainty which one is better or worse. It all depends on the transport and how its working condition is monitored. The twenty safest airlines today:

Place A country Airline
1 China (Hong Kong)Cathay Pacific Airway
2 UAEEmirates
3 TaiwanEva Air
4 QatarQatar Airways
5 ChinaHainan Airlines
6 NetherlandsKLM
7 New ZealandAir New Zealand
8 UAEEtihad Airways
9 JapanJapan Airlines
10 PortugalTAP Portugal
11 USAJetblue Airways
12 GermanyLufthansa
13 AustraliaQantas
14 Great BritainVirgin Atlantic Airways
15 JapanAll Nippon Airways
16 CanadaAir Canada
17 USADelta Air Lines
18 Great BritainBritish Airways
19 ChinaSichuan Airlines
20 GermanyAir Berlin

As for Russia, it ranks 35th.

Plane crashes in Russia

The statistics of air crashes in Russia and the United States are in the lead for both airlines and aircraft for one reason. These two countries are most involved in air transport. Considering that there is one crash per million flights, then with such a busy schedule it is difficult to avoid such tragedies.

Statistics of air accidents in the USSR show that at that time air accidents were rare - one every couple of years. The frequency of accidents began after a long period of use of the equipment, when vehicle repair work was ignored.

The considered statistics of air crashes in Russia by airline are noted by Aeroflot. It is one of the oldest. Perhaps that is why it is considered dangerous for passengers. At the same time, few people pay attention to the fact that these are mainly her “daughters”. In the company itself, accidents have decreased greatly over the past 20 years.

Despite the fact that according to statistics, Aeroflot plane crashes are off the charts, the company is doing its best to correct the situation and reduce the number of accidents to a minimum. To do this, it is modernizing its aircraft fleet and certifying its pilots for professionalism. Such tests help determine how capable an employee is of adequately assessing critical situations.

Judging by Russian airlines and those killed in plane crashes, the statistics of victims at Aeroflot is frightening. Over the entire history of its existence, there have been approximately 130 crashes.

However, over the past 10 years, airlines have proven that flight safety is much better than ground travel. At the same time, over the past 5 years in Russia the number of accidents has decreased significantly. This proves that the country is worried not only about income, but also about security. Experts try to reduce flow disruption to a minimum.

Looking at recent years, 2015 was an unusually quiet year. There were only 16 disasters, killing 560 people. But it was like the calm before the storm. In 2016, there were as many accidents with victims as there were in several years.

But, regardless of the statistics of plane crashes in Russia in 2016, the popularity of air travel has not decreased. Every day there are more and more people wanting to fly.

This information was confirmed to TASS by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. According to the latest data, there were 71 people on board the plane. There are reportedly no survivors. According to one version, the An-148 could have collided with a helicopter during takeoff, but this was later refuted by the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

“Presumably the plane crashed near the village of Argunovo. The crew members and passengers had no chance of survival,” an Interfax source said.

Earlier, eyewitnesses reported to emergency services that a Saratov Airlines An-148 plane had crashed in the Ramensky district of the Moscow region.

The agencies clarify that wreckage of the An-148 and the first fragments of bodies have been found. “The first groups of rescuers have arrived at the site of the plane crash. The scattering of the debris is about 1 km,” a representative of the press service of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations told Interfax.

It is reported that the head of the Orenburg region, where the plane that crashed in the Moscow region was heading, quickly flew to Moscow.

Domodedovo airport, from where the An-148 took off, is operating as normal.

The first versions of the disaster and eyewitness accounts: “First, something exploded under the wing...”

The cause of the plane crash in the Moscow region could have been weather conditions, as well as crew error. A source in the emergency services reported this to TASS.

“Weather conditions, crew error, as well as technical malfunction could have caused the An-148 crash in the Moscow region,” the agency’s interlocutor said. However, he noted that there were no extreme weather conditions.

According to an Interfax source, the An-148 could have collided with a Russian Post helicopter during takeoff.

“The plane was produced less than eight years ago and was previously operated by Rossiya Airlines, where it flew, including on foreign routes, and was later transferred to Saratov Airlines,” a source in the emergency services clarified to Interfax.

A Lenta.ru source reports that wreckage of a second aircraft, probably a helicopter, was found near the plane. There is no official confirmation of this yet.

The emergency in the Moscow region has nothing to do with Russian Post: there are no helicopters in its fleet, the company’s press service said.

Russian Post denies this information. This situation has nothing to do with Russian Post. Russian Post uses two Tu 204 C aircraft,” the Post press service said, commenting on information that an An-148 plane could collide with a Russian Post helicopter. Pochta also reported that on board the crashed plane there was a small bag of mail weighing about 20 kg - as a result of the disaster, the letters scattered across the field, which is why the version with the company's helicopter arose.

According to sources of the Mash Telegram channel, strange flight parameters were recorded on the airliner before the crash. First, the An-148 gained an altitude of approximately 1800 meters, accelerating to 600 km/h. Then, for an unknown reason, the car began to descend - first to 1500 meters. After this, the plane rises again to 1800 meters and immediately dives down. Then the mark was fixed - 900 meters. After this, the ship disappeared from radar screens.

“First, something exploded under the wing and it caught fire. After that there was another flash and the plane fell sharply down. Everyone saw the flash. Everything was so fast,” one of the eyewitnesses who watched the plane crash told Mash.

Aeroflot pilot: the crashed An-148 is “quite old,” but there were no previous incidents with it

The plane that crashed was "quite old" but had no previous accidents. This opinion was expressed in an interview with Echo of Moscow by Aeroflot pilot, A-320 commander Andrei Litvinov.

“The An-148 is a fairly old plane, and they have been flying for a long time. In terms of reliability, in principle, I have not heard of anything serious happening to them,” he said.

According to Litvinov, all old Soviet-era aircraft must be replaced with new equipment. “They have all outlived themselves. This plane was reliable and good in its time. We need to get rid of old equipment and buy new ones,” he noted.

Express analysis of the An-148 wreckage revealed no traces of explosives

The version of a terrorist attack on board the Saratov Airlines An-148 plane that crashed in the Moscow region is being considered, but is not a priority, since explosives experts who carried out an express analysis of part of the aircraft wreckage did not find microparticles of explosive on them, RBC reports, citing a source. , familiar with the investigation. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation previously emphasized that they would check all possible versions of the disaster.

The portal also notes that the plane's engines were working until the collision with the ground. According to the source, inspection of the engine and wing mechanism elements “allows us to conclude that the plane did not collapse in the air.” An Interfax eyewitness from the scene said that after the crash the plane left a crater about two meters deep and about 17 meters in diameter. Apparently it exploded on impact with the ground.

Some witnesses to the tragedy claimed that the plane first had something explode under the wing and it caught fire. Then another flash occurred and the ship fell sharply down.

The vice-president of the Russian flight personnel trade union, Alfred Malinovsky, suggested that the crash of the An-148 aircraft in the Moscow region could have occurred due to a failure of the engine anti-icing system; the exact cause will be established after decoding the flight recorders.

At the same time, he noted that in the case of the An-148 it seems that there was some kind of explosion. “However, the explosion could not only be the result of sabotage. The following factors could have played a role: the air temperature is slightly below zero, the humidity is very high, icing is very likely. If the engine anti-icing system fails, some piece of ice may get into the compressor (engine) blades,” - the expert explained.

“The large crater at the crash site, as reported by eyewitnesses, may indicate that the plane fell randomly, vertically, without gliding along any glide path. The crew did not have time to report or turn on the distress signal. This suggests that the event occurred suddenly and fleeting,” Malinovsky emphasized.

He also noted that in the event of a terrorist attack, traces of explosives are detected quite quickly

One of the black boxes found

“Preliminarily, we can say that the external condition of the black box, the parametric recorder, is normal. It has been transferred for decryption,” the agency’s interlocutor said. According to him, no traces of thermal effects were recorded on the recorder. The search for the second recorder continues.

An An-148 passenger plane operated by Saratov Airlines, flying from Moscow to Orsk, disappeared from radar screens a few minutes after takeoff from Domodedovo Airport. The wreckage of the aircraft was found near the village of Stepanovskoye, Ramensky district, Moscow region. All 65 passengers and six crew members were confirmed dead.

In this post I would like to tell you about biggest and worst plane crashes in the history of world aviation. Most of the stories below are truly creepy. In general, it’s hard to believe that all this is possible... For some reason, in real life everything doesn’t always end with a happy ending, this is not a movie for you, Friends...

In this context, I judged the most terrible disasters by the total number of victims in an air accident. The September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, in which thousands of civilians and passengers on Boeing 767 and 757 aircraft hijacked by terrorists were injured, were not taken into account in the rating. Another interesting piece of information is that from the 1970s to 2017, the number of disasters occurring decreased by more than 3 times:

Plane crash in New York in 2009 with a happy outcome

The article will be full of terrible disasters that claimed thousands of lives. I want to start this tragic article with a rare incident in world aviation. Thanks to the professionalism of the pilots, on January 15, 2009, the lives of 155 people were saved. The US Airways Airbus A320 took off from New York Airport, but a few minutes later problems developed in the engine. Both engines were damaged and stopped due to the plane colliding with a flock of birds. The pilots managed to land the almost uncontrollable car directly into the Hudson River. More than 1,000 people took part in saving the lives of passengers. You will learn more about this terrible plane crash, but with a happy ending, from the video:

Plane crash in Tenerife - 1977

1. The largest and most tragic plane crash in aviation history occurred on March 27, 1977. On this tragic day on the Spanish island of Tenerife, 2 Boeing 747 airlines Pan Am and KLM collided on the runway. You can read more about the worst plane crash in which 583 people died.

Film about the plane crash in Tenerife:

Plane accident in Japan - 1985

2. On August 12, 1985, a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 crashed near the famous Mount Fuji in Japan. The plane crash in Japan is the second after the tragedy in Tenerife in terms of the total number of victims, and the largest air accident in the history of aviation involving a single aircraft. As a result of the Boeing 747 crash, 520 people died; only 4 passengers of the ill-fated Japan Airlines flight managed to survive. As a result of the investigation into the plane crash in Japan, it was found that the main cause of the tragedy was errors and negligence made during the repair of the aircraft, as a result of which, during the fatal flight, the Boeing 747 with tail number JA 8119 lost control and crashed.

Film with details of a terrible plane accident in Japan (in English):

Delhi plane crash - 1966

3. On November 12, 1996, two aircraft collided in the air over Delhi: an Il-76 of Kazakhstan Airlines and a Boeing 747 of Saudi Arabian Airlines. As a result of a misunderstanding by the crew of the Kazakh IL-76 of the air traffic controller's commands, the plane landing at a speed of 500 km/h crashed into the fuselage of a Boeing 747 flying towards the meeting. In a plane crash on November 12, 1996 over Delhi, all those on board the 2 planes died - 349 people. In addition to the error of the IL-76 crew, one of the reasons for the accident was that both airliners were not equipped with a collision avoidance system.

The first excerpt from the National Geographic film about the Delhi plane crash (you can also find the rest on YouTube):

Turkish Airlines plane crash - 1974

4. The largest Turkish Airlines plane crash occurred on March 3, 1974 in France near Paris Orly airport. A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 airliner crashed. The cause of the largest air disaster in the history of the DC-10 aircraft was an error in the design of the cargo compartment door, as a result of which the door was simply torn off during the flight, which led to subsequent depressurization of the cabin. The airliner became completely uncontrollable and crashed in the forests near Paris. The Turkish Airlines McDonnell Douglas crash killed all 346 people on board the plane.

Air India plane bombing - 1985

5. On June 23, 1985, over the Atlantic Ocean south of the coast of Ireland, extremists blew up an Air India Boeing 747 flying on the route Montreal (Canada) - London (UK) - Delhi (India). As a result of the terrorist attack (bomb explosion) on board the plane in the plane crash of flight No. 182, all 329 people were killed. Sikh extremists also planned to blow up another Air India plane, but the bomb exploded prematurely in the luggage compartment of Tokyo airport.

Saudi Arabian Airlines plane fire - 1980

6. On August 19, 1980, Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar, caught fire after takeoff from Riyadh International Airport. 7 minutes after takeoff, a fire occurred in the cargo compartment of the plane, and the crew decided to return and make an emergency landing at Riyadh airport. As a result of numerous crew errors, after a successful landing, all passengers on flight No. 163 died from poisonous gases caused by the fire. In total, 301 people died in this tragic and terrible plane crash; no one managed to get out of the cabin of the burning Lockheed plane...


Iranian airliner shot down by US missile - 1988

7. On July 3, 1988, the American cruiser Vincennes mistakenly shot down an Iranian Airbus A300 airliner with 290 people on board over the Persian Gulf. Subsequently, in 1996, the United States paid Iran compensation in the amount of 61.8 million US dollars for 248 victims, at the rate of 300 thousand dollars for each able-bodied victim and 150 thousand for each dependent.

American Airlines plane crash - 1979

8. On May 25, 1979, the worst air disaster in US history occurred when an American Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashed 31 seconds after takeoff from Chicago International Airport. The terrible tragedy was caused by errors in pilot training and DC-10 repair technology. The horrific plane crash in Chicago killed 271 people on board and killed two residents when the plane crashed into a nearby trailer park. But there could have been many more victims...

Watch a video investigation of the worst plane crash in US history. Only in English, but very detailed.

Bombing of a Pan Am plane by Libyan terrorists - 1988

9. On December 21, 1988, Libyan terrorists blew up a Pan Am Boeing 747 flying from London to New York over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. The plane crash over Lockerbie killed 270 people.

Korean Airlines crash - 1983

10. On September 1, 1983, in the airspace of the USSR over the waters of the Pacific Ocean, a Korean Airlines Boeing 747 was shot down by a Soviet fighter-interceptor. The incident occurred due to the severe diversion of the New York-Seoul flight and its intrusion into closed Soviet airspace. As a result, the Boeing with 246 passengers on board and 23 crew members was shot down by 2 Soviet R-98 missiles.

11. In 2016, a TU-154 plane of the Russian Ministry of Defense crashed, killing 100 people (92 passengers and 8 crew members).

12. 2017 turned out to be a relatively calm year. In Kyrgyzstan, due to fog, a passenger Boeing 747 crashed during landing, falling on residential buildings. 37 people died.