Factbox-The world's worst air crashes in recent years

LONDON (Reuters) -At least 30 people were killed when an Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India's western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, with the toll expected to climb, authorities said.
Below are some of the fatal crashes that have occurred in recent years.
2025
UNITED STATES
More than 60 people were killed when an American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on January 29 and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
2024
SOUTH KOREA
Jeju Air international flight 7C2216 crashed at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29, 2024, killing all 175 passengers and four of the six crew in the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil.
KAZAKHSTAN
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 had been damaged by accidental shooting from the ground in Russia. Moscow has not confirmed this.
JAPAN
A Japan Airlines (JAL) plane collided with a smaller Coast Guard aircraft on the runway of Tokyo's Haneda airport on January 2. 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
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
Iran's Revolutionary Guards shot down a Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) 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
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
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.
(Compiled by Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

UPI

an hour ago

• UPI

Air India identifies crew from crash, announces service reductions

Search and recovery teams examine the tail section of Air India flight 171 after it crashed in Ahmedabad, India last week. Photo by Hanif Sindh/UPI | License Photo June 20 (UPI) -- Air India on Friday named the cabin crew members who died in last week's crash aboard Flight AI171, which went down just after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, India. The airline posted to X a statement that identified the 10 crew members killed in the incident, and called them "beloved colleagues, cherished friends, and the soul of every journey they were a part of." Air India also posted the name of the flight's First Officer on Thursday, and then announced that a temporary reduction in flights aboard Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft would begin as of Saturday and continue into mid-July. "The reductions arise from the decision to voluntarily undertake enhanced pre-flight safety checks," the company explained in a social media post, "as well as accommodate additional flight durations arising from airspace closures in the Middle East." "The objective is to restore schedule stability and minimize last-minute inconvenience to passengers," it added. As a result, flights AI169/170 from Amritsar and AI145/146 from Mopa, both Indian cities, to London Gatwick have been suspended until at least July 15, while flight AI961/962 between Delhi, India, and Nairobi, Kenya, has been suspended until at least June 30. The frequency of flights to North America, Europe, Australia and East Asia continue but have been reduced until July 15. Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, was bound for London when it crashed last week in a populated area and struck a medical college shortly after takeoff, killing more than 260 people. Air India publicly identified the captain Tuesday. The investigation into why Flight AI171 crashed continues. It has been publicly stated that the plane had a new engine, as well as another that wasn't due for servicing until December. The aircraft's black box is being sent to the United States for analysis due to its reportedly being damaged in the crash. There has also been speculation that either two of its engines failed or there was either a total hydraulic or electronic malfunction. The entire Air India Dreamliner fleet has been under inspection, and so far, 26 out of its 33 Dreamliners have been returned to service.

New York Times

15 hours ago

• New York Times

As Dense Cities Encircle India's Busiest Airports, Dangers Multiply

Bhavesh Patni had just sat down with his family for a lunch of eggplant and potato curry when an Air India plane took off from the runway behind their home in the city of Ahmedabad, flew over their heads and crashed into a medical college campus visible from their building. As Mr. Patni climbed up to his terrace to watch the flames from a disaster that would ultimately kill 241 people on the plane and at least 34 on the ground, he shuddered as he thought about his family's proximity to the nightmare below them. In Ahmedabad, as in cities across this country of 1.4 billion people, there is little buffer between the increasingly busy airport and the densely populated neighborhoods that encircle it. That puts residents in the danger zone if anything goes wrong during takeoffs and landings, the time when most aviation accidents occur. This reality illustrates a pressing challenge for India. The country's growing wealth has given it the means to be more on the move. Air passenger traffic has doubled over the past decade, as has the number of operational airports. But India's expanding aviation ambitions have been superimposed on existing urban infrastructures that are already pushed to the limit by the rapid growth of cities. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Yahoo

a day ago

• Yahoo

Air India says plane 'well-maintained' before crash

Air India's Boeing plane was "well-maintained" before it crashed a week ago, killing all but one of 242 people on board, the airline said Thursday. Indian authorities are yet to detail what caused the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to hurtle to the ground in the western city of Ahmedabad, where at least 38 people were also left dead. As investigators attempt to retrieve data from the plane's black boxes -- the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder -- the airline said that no problems were detected with the jet before the disaster. "The plane was well-maintained, with its last major check in June 2023," Air India said in a statement. "Its right engine was overhauled in March 2025, and the left engine was inspected in April 2025. Both the aircraft and engines were regularly monitored, showing no issues before the flight," the airline said. The London-bound jet burst into a fireball when it smashed into a residential area of Ahmedabad moments after takeoff. Initial checks since the crash on Air India's Dreamliners "did not reveal any major safety concerns", the country's civil aviation regulator said Tuesday. India's aviation investigative unit said Thursday the probe was "progressing steadily". "Key recovery work, including site documentation and evidence collection, has been completed, and further analysis is now underway," the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said in a statement. Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members. The airline said Thursday the pilots were accomplished flyers. "The flight was led by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a highly experienced pilot and trainer with over 10,000 hours flying widebody aircraft," it said. "First Officer Clive Kunder, had over 3,400 hours of flying experience." While investigators try to piece together what went wrong, families of dozens of victims are still waiting for their loved ones to be identified. As of Thursday, 210 victims have been identified through DNA testing, state health minister Rushikesh Patel said. bur-rsc/jfx