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IN PICS: The 30 DEADLIEST air disasters in history

March 11, 2014 08:49 IST

Thousands of lives have been lost around the world in recent years owing to aircraft disasters.

While some of the mishaps have been blamed on inclement weather others have resulted out of mechanical failures or pilot failures or terror attacks.

More recently, a Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight with 239 people, including 5 Indians, on board was presumed to have crashed and the worst is feared. Intelligence agencies are also probing how four persons with fake identities boarded the aircraft and counter-terrorism agencies of other countries have been alerted about it.

The fate of the aircraft is still unknown.

Rediff.com takes a look at some of the disastrous air crashes.

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March 27, 1977

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562 people died in the world's worst-ever air disaster when a KLM 747 jumbo jet collided with a Pan-Am 747 jumbo on the runway of Santa Cruz Airport, Tenerife.

Operator KLM Airlines

Fatalities 248

Crash location Tenerife, Spain

Cause of crash Misunderstanding between the tower and the aircraft led to it crashing into another aircraft.

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March 27, 1977

March 11, 2014 08:49 IST

31st March 1977: Mass of wreckage on the runway at Santa Cruz airport, Tenerife after 747 Jumbo Jets belonging to Pan-Am and KLM collided.

Operator Pan Am

Fatalities 248

Crash location Tenerife, Spain

Cause of crash Misunderstanding between the tower and the aircraft led to it crashing into another aircraft.

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August 12, 1985

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The image illustrates the damage the aircraft sustained that led to its crash.

Operator Japan Airlines

Fatalities 520

Crash location Tano District, Gunma, Japan

Cause of crash Rupture of the aft pressure bulkhead of the aircraft

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November 12, 1996

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Firemen hoses down the smouldering wreckage of a Saudi Arabian Boeing 747 November 13 that crashed to earth outside the Indian village of Charkhi Dadri after colliding with a Kazakh Ilyushin IL-76 cargo.

Operator Kazakhstan Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines

Fatalities 349

Crash location Charkhi Dadri, west of New Delhi

Cause of crash Mid-air collision

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March 3, 1974

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The site of the disaster at the Ermenonville frest near Paris

Operator Turkish Airlines

Fatalities 346

Crash location Ermenonville frest, near Paris

Cause of crash Uncorrected known design flaw, that left the pilots without control

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June 23, 1985

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A door from the Air India jumbo jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean floats in the sea near Cork, Ireland.

Operator Air India Boeing 747, Emperor Kanishka

Fatalities 329

Crash location Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Ireland

Cause of crash Bomb explosion

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August 19, 1980

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Operator Saudi Arabian Airlines

Fatalities 301

Crash location Runway at the Riyadh airport

Cause of crash Fire in the cargo compartment

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July 3, 1988

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Operator Iran Air

Fatalities 290

Crash location over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf

Cause of crash Mistakenly shot down by the United States navy

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February 19, 2003

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A Revolutionary Guard grieves over his dead c-orescue workers look on, on a near Kerman, in southeastern Iran.

Operator Iranian Revolutionary Guard

Fatalities 275

Crash location Mountains near Kerman, Iran

Cause of crash Bad weather and fog caused the aircraft to crash into mountains

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May 25, 1979

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Flight 191 photographed moments before it crashed

Operator American Airlines

Fatalities 271

Crash location Des Plaines, Illinois, United States

Cause of crash Loss of control after engine detachment, poor maintenance

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September 1, 1983

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The wreckage of Korean Air Lines Flight 007

Operator Korean Air Lines

Fatalities 269

Crash location Near MoneronIsland, west of SakhalinIsland, Sea of Japan

Cause of crash Shot down by the Soviet air force

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April 26, 1994

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Operator China Airlines

Fatalities 264

Crash location Nagoya Airport, Japan

Cause of crash Stall caused by crew error

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July 11, 1991

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Operator Nigeria Airways

Fatalities 261

Crash location King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah

Cause of crash Under-inflated tyre caused a fire after take-off

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November 12, 2001

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New York City firefighters in protective gear search the pit at the corner of Beach 131st street and Newport Street in the Rockaway Beach section of Queens, New York for human remains and evidence from the crash of American Airlines flight 587.

Operator American Airlines

Fatalities 260

Crash location Beach 131 Street, Queens, New York City

Cause of crash Tail structure failure due to overuse of rudder controls

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December 21, 1988

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Scottish rescue workers and crash investigators search the area around the cockpit of Pan Am flight 103 in a farmer's field east of Lockerbie, Scotland.

Operator Pan Am

Fatalities 259

Crash location Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Cause of crash Bombing

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November 28, 1979

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Wreckage of Flight 901 on the slopes of Mount Erebus.

Operator Air New Zealand

Fatalities 257

Crash location Mount Erebus, RossIsland, Antarctica

Cause of crash Aircrew was misdirected in their flight path

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December 12, 1985

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Wreckage from an Arrow Air DC-8 commercial aircraft is stored in a Gander Airport hangar for analysis by members of the Canadian Air Safety Board

Operator Arrow Air

Fatalities 256

Crash location Gander, Newfoundland, Canada

Cause of crash Likely due to ice contamination on the wings

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September 26, 1997

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Rescue workers near the torn fuselage of the Garuda Airlines Airbus A300 which crashed into heavy jungle near Medan in Sumatra.

Operator Garuda

Fatalities 234

Crash location Ravine in the Sibolangit district south of Medan, Sumatra

Cause of crash Confusion by the air traffic controller

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July 17, 1996

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A large section of fuselage from TWA Flight 800 is lifted to shore from a navy barge August 3 at the Shinnecock Coast Guard station.

Operator TWA

Fatalities 230

Crash location Moriches Inlet ear East Moriches, New York

Cause of crash Fuel tank explosion, caused by electrical spark

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September 2, 1998

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The wreckage of Swissair Flight 111 is filmed by divers from the USS Grapple off the coast of Novia Scotia September 20

Operator Swissair

Fatalities 229

Crash location In-flight fire leading to electrical failure

Cause of crash Atlantic Ocean, near St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada

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August 6, 1997

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The crash site of Korean Airlines flight 801 is seen in an aerial view of the Sasa Valley, Guam.

Operator Korean Air

Fatalities 228

Crash location Nimitz Hill, Guam

Cause of crash The captain failed to follow a normal non-precision approach

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June 1, 2009

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A combination photo shows the Brazilian navy picking debris from Air France flight AF447 out of the Atlantic Ocean, some 745 miles (1,200 km) northeast of Recife, in these handout photos distributed by the navy in Recife, northeastern Brazil.

Operator Air France

Fatalities 228

Crash location Atlantic Ocean

Cause of crash Entered an irrecoverable aerodynamic stall and hit the ocean

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May 25, 2002

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Relatives hold photos of loved ones who were aboard China Airlines flight CI 611 which crashed into the sea on Saturday prepare to board a Taiwan navy transportation ship, to make their way to a traditional spirit-calling ceremony near the island of Penghu.

Operator China Airlines

Fatalities 225

Crash location Near the Penghu Islands above the Taiwan Strait

Cause of crash Disintegrated in mid-air

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May 26, 1991

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Operator Lauda Air, Thailand

Fatalities 223

Crash location Phu Toei National Park, Suphanburi Province, Thailand

Cause of crash Aircraft broke up in mid-air due to thrust reverser deployment

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October 31, 1999

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Debris from EgyptAir Flight 990, that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean 60 miles south of Nantucket Island, sits on the deck of Coast Guard Cutter Reliance.

Operator EgyptAir

Fatalities 217

Crash location Atlantic Ocean

Cause of crash Believed to be a deliberate action by the captain, disputed.

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January 1, 1978

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An image of the aircraft Ashoka at Paris-Orly Airport on January 1, 1976, two years before the accident.

Operator Air India

Fatalities 213

Crash location Arabian Sea, near Mumbai

Cause of crash Irrational control inputs by the captain

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July 10, 1985

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An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154B-2 similar to the one involved in the accident

Operator Aeroflot/Uzbekistan

Fatalities 200

Crash location Uchkuduk, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union

Cause of crash Pilot error

Wikimedia Commons

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February 16, 1998

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Operator China Airlines

Fatalities 182

Crash location Taoyuan County, Taiwan

Cause of crash Bad weather, pilot error

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December 4, 1974

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A panoramic view of the Saptha Kanya mountain range in Sri Lanka

Operator Martinair Holland

Fatalities 191

Crash location Maskeliya, Sri Lanka

Cause of crash Collision with rising terrain owing to incorrect identification of their position

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February 6, 1996

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Memorial for the victims of Birgenair Flight 301 in Frankfurt's main cemetery

Operator Birgenair

Fatalities 189

Crash location 26 km northeast of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

Cause of crash Compromised pitot tube leading to autopilot and pilot error

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August 3, 1975

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Operator Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines

Fatalities 188

Crash location Agadir, Morocco

Cause of crash After part of a wing separated, control was lost and the aircraft crashed into a ravine

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