Worst Aviation Disasters
The world's worst commercial aviation disasters:| Date | Accident | Killed | |
| 1 | March 27, 1977 | Two Boeing 747s operated by Pan American and KLM collide at the airport on Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands | 582 |
| 2 | Aug. 12, 1985 | Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 crashes into a mountain on a domestic flight | 520 |
| 3 | Nov. 12, 1996 | A Saudi 747 collides shortly after takeoff with a Kazak Ilyushin-76 making its landing approach; | 349 |
| 4 | March 3, 1974 | Turkish McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes northeast of Paris | 346 |
| 5 | June 23, 1985 | Air-India Boeing 747 crashes off the coast of Ireland. Investigators conclude a bomb caused the crash | 329 |
| 6 | Aug. 19, 1980 | Fiery emergency landing of a Saudi Arabian L-1011 jet at the airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh | 301 |
| 7 | July 3, 1988 | Iran Air A300 Airbus shot down by USS Vincennes over the Persian Gulf | 290 |
| 8 | May 25, 1979 | American Airlines DC-10 crashes on takeoff in Chicago | 273 |
| 9 | Dec. 21, 1988 | Pan Am Boeing 747 crashes in Lockerbie, Scotland. A terrorist bomb was blamed | 270* |
| 10 | Sept. 1, 1983 | Korean Air Lines 747 shot down by a Soviet fighter after flying through Soviet airspace near Sakhalin Island | 269 |
Source: The Associated Press
© Copyright 1996 The Associated Press