Media coverage would suggest that airline crashes happen every day. Studies have shown one would have to fly once a day every day for over 15,000 years in order to statistically be involved in an aircraft accident! Yet stories of aircraft accidents are between 150 to 200 times more likely to receive front-page coverage than other more common causes of death.
Airplane disasters and plane crash statistics make for more dramatic, "eye-catching" newsprint. Not nearly enough information is printed on aircraft safety. Because disasters seem to be more newsworthy to the public, the media is naturally attracted to the financially acceptable print, and naturally it is LARGE PRINT in these cases.
Your chances of being involved in an aircraft accident are about 1 in 11 million. On the other hand, your chances of being killed in an automobile accident are 1 in 5000. Statistically, you are at far greater risk driving to the airport than getting on an airplane. However, the perception is that you have more control over your fate when you are in your car than as a passenger traveling on an airplane. Experience shows otherwise, considering that over 50,000 people are killed on the highways every year.
An article in Time magazine (12/4/06) reminds us that "more than 500 times as many people die on U.S. roads as in airline accidents." The article "Why We Worry About the Things We Shouldn't" further goes on to give some startling statistics about the kind of accidents that kill Americans. The data is from 2003, the most recent year for which data is available. According to the article, if you're a bike rider, a dog lover, or a bath taker then you're at far greater risk of being killed in an accident than you are from riding in a commercial aircraft. Don't forget the other kinds of accidents that killed more people than aircraft crashes--stinging from bees/wasps, slipping on ice or snow, choking on food, or falling down stairs or off ladders. It's a dangerous world we live in! And please don't forget the 600 Americans who are killed every year from falling out of bed.
The Time article goes on to talk about the fear of flying and that for many it's a control issue.
"We similarly misjudge risk if we feel we have some control over it, even if it's an illusory sense. The decision to drive instead of fly is the most commonly cited example, probably because it's such a good one. Behind the wheel, we're in charge; in the passenger seat of a crowded airline, we might as well be cargo. So white-kuckle flyers routinely choose the car...The most white-knuckle time of all was post-Sept. 11 when even confident flyers took to the roads. Not surprisingly, from October through December 2001 there were 1,000 more highway fatalities than in the same period the year before (in part because there were simply more cars around)...the '9-11 effect produced a third again as many fatalities as the terrorist attacks,' says David Ropeik, an independent risk consultant and a former professor at the Harvard School of Public Health."
All the photos in this webpage are my own and are protected under Creative Commons.
Air Crash Disaster Timeline, since 1987
2008
14 September: A Boeing-737 crashes on landing near the central Russian city of Perm, killing all 88 passengers and crew members on board.
24 August: A passenger plane crashes shortly after take-off from Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, killing 68 people.
20 August: A Spanair MD82 veers off the runway on take-off at Madrid's Barajas airport, killing 154 people and injuring 18.
2 May: South Sudan's defence minister is among 22 people killed after engine trouble causes a plane carrying a military delegation to crash about 400km (250 miles) west of Juba.
15 April: Some 40 people die when a DC-9 skids off the runway while attempting to take off in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma during heavy rain, smashing through a wall and into a busy residential area.
24 January: Nineteen people die when a Polish Casa C-295M military transport plane crashes in the country's north-west, carrying officials who had attended an air safety conference.
2007
30 November: All 56 people on board an Atlasjet flight are killed when it crashes near the town of Keciborlu in the mountainous Isparta province, about 12km (7.5 miles) from Isparta airport.
16 September: At least 87 people are killed after a One-Two-Go plane crashed on landing in bad weather at the Thai resort of Phuket.
17 July: A TAM Airlines jet crashes on landing at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, in Brazil's worst-ever air disaster. A total of 199 people are killed - all 186 on board and 13 on the ground.
5 May: A Kenya Airways' Boeing 737-800 crashes in swampland in southern Cameroon, killing all 114 on board. The official inquiry is yet to report on the cause of the disaster.
1 January: An Adam Air Boeing 737-400 carrying 102 passengers and crew comes down in mountains on Sulawesi Island on a domestic Indonesian flight. All on board are presumed dead.
2006
29 September: A Boeing 737 carrying 154 passengers and crew crashed into the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, killing all on board, after colliding with a private jet in mid-air.
22 August: A Russian Tupolev-154 passenger plane with 170 people on board crashes north of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine.
9 July: A Russian S7 Airbus A-310 skids off the runway during landing at Irkutsk airport in Siberia. A total of 124 people on board die, but more than 50 survive the crash.
3 May: An Armavia Airbus A-320 crashes into the Black Sea near Sochi, killing all 113 people on board.
2005
10 December: A Sosoliso Airlines DC-9 crashes in the southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt, killing 103 people on board.
6 December: A C-130 military transport plane crashes on the outskirts of the Iranian capital Tehran, killing 110 people, including some on the ground.
22 October: A Bellview airlines Boeing 737 carrying 117 people on board crashes soon after take-off from the Nigerian city of Lagos, killing everyone on board.
The crash site of Mandala Airlines flight A330
The Mandala crash in Medan in Indonesia killed more than 100
5 September: A Mandala Airlines plane with 112 passengers and five crew on board crashes after take-off in the Indonesian city of Medan, killing almost all on board and dozens on the ground.
23 August: A Tans airline Boeing 737-200 crashes on an internal flight in Peru, near the city of Pucallpa. There are 40 people reported dead and 58 survivors.
16 August: A Colombian plane operated by West Caribbean Airways crashes in a remote region of Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board. The airliner, heading from Panama to Martinique, was packed with residents of the Caribbean island.
14 August: A Helios Airways flight from Cyprus to Prague with 121 people on board crashes north of the Greek capital Athens, apparently after a drop in cabin pressure.
16 July: An Equatair plane crashes soon after take-off from Equatorial Guinea's island capital, Malabo, west of the mainland, killing all 60 people on board.
3 February: The wreckage of Kam Air Boeing 737 flight is located in high mountains near the Afghan capital Kabul, two days after the plane vanished from radar screens in heavy snowstorms. All 104 people on board are feared dead.
2004
21 November: A passenger plane crashes into a frozen lake near the city of Baotou in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China, killing all 53 on board and two on the ground, officials say.
24 August: Chechen suicide bombers destroy two Russian airliners carrying a total of 90 passengers and crew on domestic flights out of Moscow.
3 January: An Egyptian charter plane belonging to Flash Airlines crashes into the Red Sea, killing all 141 people on board. Most of the passengers are thought to be French tourists.
2003
25 December: A Boeing 727 crashes soon after take-off from the West African state of Benin, killing at least 135 people en route to Lebanon.
8 July: A Boeing 737 crashes in Sudan shortly after take-off, killing 115 people on board. Only one passenger, a small child, survived.
26 May: A Ukrainian Yak-42 crashes near the Black Sea resort of Trabzon in north-west Turkey, killing all 74 people on board - most of them Spanish peacekeepers returning home from Afghanistan.
8 May: As many as 170 people are reported dead in DR Congo after the rear ramp of an old Soviet plane, an Ilyushin 76 cargo plane, apparently falls off, sucking them out.
6 March: An Algerian Boeing 737 crashes after taking off from the remote Tamanrasset airport, leaving up to 102 people dead.
19 February: An Iranian military transport aircraft carrying 276 people crashes in the south of the country, killing all on board.
8 January: A Turkish Airlines plane with 76 passengers and crew on board crashes while coming in to land at Diyarbakir.
2002
23 December: An Antonov 140 commuter plane carrying aerospace experts crashes in central Iran, killing all 46 people aboard.
German air crash, July 2002
The 2002 collision in Germany was blamed on air traffic control
The delegation had been due to review an Iranian version of the same plane built under licence.
27 July: A fighter jet crashes into a crowd of spectators in the west Ukrainian town of Lviv, killing 77 people, in what is the world's worst air show disaster.
1 July: Seventy-one people, many of them children, die when a Russian Tupolev 154 aircraft on a school trip to Spain collides with a Boeing 757 transport plane over southern Germany.
25 May: A Boeing 747 belonging to Taiwan's national carrier - China Airlines - crashes into the sea near the Taiwanese island of Penghu, with 225 passengers and crew on board.
7 May: China Northern Airlines plane carrying 112 people crashes into the sea near Dalian in north-east China.
7 May: On the same day, an EgyptAir Boeing 735 crash lands near Tunis with 55 passengers and up to 10 crew on board. Most people survive.
4 May: A BAC1-11-500 plane operated by EAS Airlines crashes in the Nigerian city of Kano, killing 148 people - half of them on the ground.
15 April: Air China flight 129 crashes on its approach to Pusan, South Korea, with over 160 passengers and crew on board.
12 February: A Tupolev 154 operated by Iran Air crashes in mountains in the west of Iran, killing all 117 on board.
29 January: A Boeing 727 from the Ecuadorean TAME airline crashes in mountains in Colombia, killing 92 people.
2001
12 November: An American Airlines A-300 bound for the Dominican Republic crashes after takeoff in a residential area of the borough of Queens, New York, killing all 260 people on board and at least five people on the ground.
8 October: A Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) airliner collides with a small plane in heavy fog on the runway at Milan's Linate airport, killing 118 people.
4 October: A Russian Sibir Airlines Tupolev 154 en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk in Siberia explodes in mid-air and crashes into the Black Sea, killing 78 passengers and crew.
3 July: A Russian Tupolev 154, en route from Yekaterinburg in the Ural mountains to the Russian port of Vladivostok, crashes near the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing 133 passengers and 10 crew.
2000
30 October: A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 bound for Los Angeles crashes after take-off from Taipei airport in Taiwan, killing 78 of the 179 people on board.
23 August: A Gulf Air Airbus crashes into the sea as it comes in to land in Bahrain, killing all 143 people on board.
25 July: Air France Concorde en route for New York crashes into a hotel outside Paris shortly after takeoff, killing 113 people, including four on the ground.
17 July: Alliance Air Boeing 737-200 crashes into houses attempting to land at Patna, India, killing 51 people on board and four on the ground.
19 April: Air Philippines Boeing 737-200 from Manila to Davao crashes on approach to landing, killing all 131 people on board.
31 January: Alaska Airlines MD-83 from Mexico to San Francisco plunges into ocean off southern California, killing all 88 people on board.
30 January: Kenya Airways A-310 crashes into Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, en route for Lagos, Nigeria. All but 10 of the 179 people on board die.
1999
31 October: EgyptAir Boeing 767 crashes into Atlantic Ocean after taking off from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on flight to Cairo, Egypt, killing all 217 on board.
24 February: China Southwest Airlines plane crashes in a field in China's coastal Zhejiang province after a mid-air explosion. All 61 people on board the Russian-built TU-154 flying from Chongqing to the south-eastern city of Wenzhou are killed.
1998
11 December: Thai Airways International A-310 crashes on a domestic flight during its third attempt to land at Surat Thani, Thailand, killing 101 people.
2 September: Swissair MD-11 from New York to Geneva crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Canada killing all 229 people on board.
16 February: Airbus A-300 owned by Taiwan's China Airlines crashes near Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek airport while trying to land in fog and rain after a flight from Bali, Indonesia. All 196 on board and seven people on ground are killed.
2 February: Cebu Pacific Air DC-9 crashes into mountain in southern Philippines, killing all 104 people aboard.
1997
August 6: Guam: Korean Air Boeing 747-300 from Seoul crashed into jungle near Agana International Airport, killing 228 people; 26 survived.
September 26: nr. northern Indonesia: Indonesian Garuda Airlines A-300 Airbus jetliner crashed while approaching Medan Airport, Sumatra, killing all 234 people aboard.
1996
January 8: Kinshasa, Zaire: Russian-built Antonov-32 cargo plane crashed after takeoff from Kinshasa into the center of the city, killing over 350 people and injuring at least 470.
February 6: off coast of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic: a Birgenair Boeing 757 en route to Germany, chartered by Dominican Alas Nacionales. crashed into Atlantic Ocean after takeoff, killing 189.
February 29: near Arequipa, Peru: Faucett Airline Boeing 737 crashed into mountain as it prepared to land. All 117 passengers and crew were killed.
May 11: Everglades, Fla.: ValuJet DC-9 went down in swamp, killing 110. Cargo fire caused by oxygen generators missing safety caps.
July 17: off coast of Long Island, N.Y.: TWA Boeing 747-100, Flight 800, bound for Paris from N.Y., exploded over waters of eastern L.I. and crashed into Atlantic Ocean, killing all 230 aboard.
August 29: Svalbard, Norway: A Tu-154, taking miners and their families to a Russian mining settlement on Spitsbergen, crashed into a mountaintop, killing a 141 on board, including 29 children.
November 12: nr. New Delhi, India: shortly after takeoff, Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 collided in midair with Kazak Airlines Ilyushin 76 approaching the New Delhi airport. All 349 passengers and crew were killed; the world's worst midair collision.
1995
December 20: nr. Cali, Colombia: 160 people killed when American Airlines Boeing 757 crashed in Andean Mountains.
1994
January 3: Irkutsk, Russia: Russian Tupolev-154 crashes after taking off, killing all 124 people.
April 14: northern Iraq: two American F-15C fighter aircraft mistook two U.S. Army blackhawk helicopters for Russian-made Iraqi MI-24 helicopters and shot them down over no-fly zone, killing all 26 on board.
April 26: Nagoya, Japan: China Airlines Airbus A-300 from Taiwan crash-landed and exploded on the tarmac. Only 7 of the 271 passengers aboard survived.
June 6: Xian, China: China Northwest Airlines Tupolev-154 crashed 10 minutes after takeoff, killing all 160 aboard.
September 8: nr. Aliquippa, Pa.: USAir Boeing 737 crashed into a ravine shortly before it was supposed to land at Pittsburgh International Airport. All 132 aboard were killed.
1991
May 26: nr. Bangkok, Thailand: Austrian Lauda Air Boeing 767, en route to Vienna, crashed into jungle hilltop shortly after takeoff from Bangkok airport, killing all 223 aboard. Thailand's worst air disaster.
July 11: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Canadian-chartered DC-8 carrying pilgrims returning to Nigeria crashed after takeoff, killing 261 people.
1989
June 7: Paramaribo, Suriname: a Surinam Airways DC-8 carrying 174 passengers crashed into the jungle while making a third attempt to land in a thick fog, killing 168 aboard.
July 19: Sioux City, Iowa: United Airlines DC-10 crashed during an emergency landing. Out of a total of 296 aboard, 111 were killed, 172 were injured, and 13 escaped unharmed.
1988
July 3: Persian Gulf: U.S. Navy cruiser Vincennes shot down Iran Air Airbus A-300 after mistaking it for an attacking jet fighter; 290 killed.
August 28, Ramstein Air Force Base, West Germany: 3 jets from Italian Air Force acrobatic team collided in midair during air show and crashed, killing 70 people, including the pilots and spectators on the ground.
December 21: Lockerbie, Scotland: N.Y.-bound Pan-Am Boeing 747 exploded in flight from a terrorist bomb and crashed into Scottish village, killing all 259 aboard and 11 on the ground.
1987
May 9: Poland: Polish airliner Ilyushin 62M, on charter flight to N.Y., crashed after takeoff from Warsaw, killing 183.
August 16: Romulus, Mich.: Northwest Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-80 crashed into a highway shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing 156 (including 2 on the ground). Girl, 4, only survivor.
November 26: south of Mauritius: South African Airways Boeing 747 went down in rough seas; 160 died.
November 29: Burma: Korean Air Boeing 747 jetliner exploded from bomb planted by North Korean agents and crashed into sea, killing all 115 aboard.
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