Notes on tables
Accident data comes from Flight International's own research and from Airclaims' World Airline Accident Summary (WAAS)*, a quarterly updated analytical record of accidents and incidents worldwide since 1945. The WAAS, a UK Civil Aviation Authority publication, benefits from Airclaims' exclusive information exchange with the CIS Interstate Aviation Committee Commission for Flight Safety. The WAAS now lists accidents by operator and location, as well as by type of occurrence and aircraft type.
Although details of non-fatal incidents are not made officially available by the authorities in many countries, Flight International continues to list as many of these incidents as possible, in the interests of maximising the availability of relevant information. We accept that the non-fatal listing may be unfairly weighted against the airlines of those countries which make safety information more readily available.
*Airclaims, Cardinal Point, Newall Road, Heathrow Airport, London TW6 2AS, UK; tel: +44 (181) 897 1066; fax: +44 (181) 897 0300.
Abbreviations
AA airfield approach/early descent; AAL above airfield level; ADC air-data computer; ADF automatic direction finder; AF air force; AGL above ground level; AMSL above mean sea level; Apt airport; ASI airspeed indicator; ATC air-traffic control; C climb; C-B circuit-breaker; CFIT controlled flight into terrain; CNK cause not known; CVR cockpit-voice recorder; DME distance-measuring equipment; ER en route; FDR flight data recorder; DFDR digital FDR; ECAM electronic centralised aircraft monitor; EFIS electronic flight-instrument system; EICAS engine-indicating and crew-alerting system; FAA US Federal Aviation Administration FL flight level = altitude, expressed in hundreds of feet, with international standard pressure-setting (ISA) of 1013.2mb set on altimeter (eg: FL100 = altimeter reading of 10,000ft with ISA set); FMS flight-management system; G on ground; GPU ground power unit; GPWS ground-proximity warning system; HP high pressure; IFR instrument flight rules; IMC instrument meteorological conditions; ILS instrument-landing system; ISA international standard atmosphere = sea-level pressure of 1013.2mb and standard temperature/pressure lapse rate with altitude; L landing; LP low pressure; MTOW maximum take-off weight; NDB non-directional beacon; NTSB US National Transportation Safety Board; PF pilot flying; PNF pilot not flying; RA runway/final approach; VFR visual flight rules; VHF very high frequency; VMC visual meteorological conditions; VOR VHF omni-range navigation beacon; TO take-off; V1 take-off decision speed
Conversion factors 1nm=1.85km 1ft=0.3m 1kt=1.85km/h
Click on date to link to relevant article if available.
| FATAL EVENTS: HOSTILE ACTION OR UNLAWFUL INTERFERENCE | ||||||
| Date | Carrier | Aircraft Type/Registration | Location | Fatalities crew/pax | Total Occupants crew/pax | Phase |
| 2 Jan | TransAfrik | Lockheed L-100-30 (D2-EHD) | Nr Ballundo, Angola | 4/5 | 4/5 | ER |
| This aircraft, operated by the United Nations, appears to have been shot down by UNITA forces. | ||||||
| 12 Apr | Avianca | Fokker 50 (PH-MXT) | Nr Simiti, Colombia | ?/? | 5/41 | ER |
| The aircraft was hijacked by armed men who forced the captain to divert to a remote airstrip where the men shot the aircraft's tyres to prevent a take-off attempt, and transported the passengers elsewhere. Most of those on board have been released but it is not clear whether all are freed. | ||||||
| FATAL ACCIDENTS: SCHEDULED PASSENGER FLIGHTS | ||||||
| Date | Carrier | Aircraft Type/Registration | Location | Fatalities crew/pax | Total Occupants crew/pax | Phase |
| 24 Feb | China Southwest Airlines | Tupolev Tu-154M (B-2622) | Rulan, Nr Wenzhou, China | 11/50 | 11/50 | AA |
| Descending to Wenzhou in daylight and good weather, the aircraft hit fields about 30km away. The last ATC clearance had been for the aircraft to descend from 1,000m to 700m. There was no emergency call. | ||||||
| 1 Jun | American Airlines | Boeing MD-80 (N215AA) | Little Rock, Arkansas, USA | 1/10 | 6/139 | L |
| Night Landing. Aircraft overran the runway by 300m in high winds and rain after a 2h delay waiting for weather to clear. The NTSB says that the FDR indicates that the spoilers did not deploy on touchdown. The crew had been on duty for 13.5h. | ||||||
| FATAL ACCIDENTS: REGIONAL AND COMMUTER AIRLINES | ||||||
| Date | Carrier | Aircraft Type/Registration | Location | Fatalities crew/pax | Total Occupants crew/pax | Phase |
| 17 Jan | Necon Air | Cessna 208 Caravan (9N-ADA) | Jumla, Nepal | 1/3 | 1/5 | TO |
| The aircraft climbed to about 450ft AGL with a high nose-up attitude, before descending left wing low to crash close to the airfield boundary. Early reports suggest an engine failure and fire, but this has yet to be confirmed. | ||||||
| 16 Jan | Uzu Air | Pilatus Britten-Norman Islander (VH-XFF) | Coconut Island, Australia | 1/2 | 1/3 | RA |
| The aircraft went out of control and crashed when only about 250m short of the runway threshold. | ||||||
| 3 Feb | Airlink | Pilatus Britten-Norman Islander (P2-ALH) | 30km SW of Hoskins, Papua New Guinea | 1/10 | 1/10 | ER |
| Crashed en route Hoskins-Kandrianat. The wreckage spread indicates structural failure, according to the airline. | ||||||
| 8 Apr | Aerotaca | DHC Twin Otter (HK-2760) | Cerro la Carbonera, Nr Malaga, Colombia | 2/3 | 2/3 | AA |
| During descent to Malaga, the aircraft hit the mountain (Cerro la Carbonera) at about the 8,000ft AMSL 15km to the west of the airport. The crash site is about 8km off the procedural flight path. The flight was filed as VFR and it was daylight with no adverse weather reported, but there was a broken cloudbase and some mist. | ||||||
| 18 Apr | Waterwings Airways | Cessna 206 (ZK-EKJ) | Mt Suter, Milford Sound, New Zealand | 1/4 | 1/4 | ER |
| The aircraft crashed into the 6,700ft mountain in daylight about 200ft below its summit and 1km to the east of the aircraft's planned track. The weather was generally good but cloud was building on the mountain tops. | ||||||
| 8 May | Vanair | DHC Twin Otter (YJ-RV9) | In sea off Port Vila, Vanuatu | 1/6 | 1/11 | AA |
| The aircraft, having settled into a gradual descent for Port Vila at night in heavy rain, descended into the sea. | ||||||
| 17 Jun | Airlink | Embraer Bandeirante (P2-ALX) | Nr Goroka, Papua New Guinea | 2/15 | 2/15 | ER |
| Crashed shortly after the pilot had radioed inbound to Goroka with no apparent problems. The investigators have indicated that the aircraft may have been operating in IMC below the 14,000ft minimum safe altitude for the mountainous region. Wreckage was found on a mountain at 8,500ft about 1km to the right of the procedural approach path for the airfield. | ||||||
| FATAL ACCIDENTS: NON-PASSENGER FLIGHTS | ||||||
| Date | Carrier | Aircraft Type/Registration | Location | Fatalities | Total Occupants | Phase |
| 12 Jan | Channel Express | Fokker F27-600 (G-CHNL) | Guernsey Apt, UK Channel Islands | 2 | 2 | RA |
| The aircraft, on a newspaper delivery flight, crashed 500m short of the runway threshold during an approach in gusty conditions with possible windshear. The aircraft hit the ground in a nose-up attitude and power had been applied just before impact, according to witnesses. | ||||||
| 13 Jan | Kelowna Flightcraft | Douglas DC-3 (C-GWUG) | Mt Parke, Vancouver, Canada | 2 | 2 | ER |
| The aircraft hit the mountain in darkness and marginal VMC at the 900ft level en route from Vancouver to Victoria. The pilot had cancelled an IFR flight plan although the weather was given as overcast at 800ft. | ||||||
| 2 Feb | Santa Cruz Imperial | Antonov An-12 (EL-ASA) | Cazenga district, Luanda, Angola | 14 | 14 | RA |
| About 2min after take-off from Luanda, the crew reported trouble with No 1 engine and said they were returning to land. On final approach about 3km from the airfield the aircraft appeared to go out of control and it entered a steep dive to impact. 13 people on the ground were killed. | ||||||
| 4 Feb | Air Angol | Antonov An-26 (EL-ANZ) | Luzamba Apt, Angola | 2 | 36 | L |
| Aircraft landed long, overran into a deep ditch and caught fire. | ||||||
| 8 Feb | Blue Airlines | Lockheed Electra (9Q-CDI?) | Mbanza-Lemba District, Kinshasa, Zaire | 7 | 7 | C |
| Crashed shortly after take-off and was destroyed. | ||||||
| 12 Feb | Ameriflight | Beech C99 (N205RA) | White Mountain, Nr Bishop, California, USA | 1 | 1 | ER |
| Crashed into the mountain in daylight VMC at 9,500ft AMSL during a positioning flight. | ||||||
| 18 Mar | Aliansa Colombia | Douglas DC-3 (HK-337) | Location unknown, Colombia | 8 | 8 | ER |
| The aircraft went missing, with no emergency call. | ||||||
| 19 Mar | Provincial Airlines | DHC Twin Otter 300 (C-FWLQ) | Davis Inlet, Newfoundland, Canada | 1 | 2 | C |
| Crashed in blowing snow about 7km from the Davis Inlet airfield after a go-around. | ||||||
| 7 Apr | THY Turkish Airlines | Boeing 737-400 (TC-JEP) | Adatepe, Nr Ceyhan, Turkey | 6 | 6 | C |
| The aircraft appears to have gone out of control and crashed about 9min after departure from Adana on a positioning flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Take-off was at 00:45 local time in heavy rain and thunderstorms in the vicinity. | ||||||
| 15 Apr | Korean Air | Boeing MD-11F (HL7373) | Shanghai, China | 3 | 3 | C |
| The aircraft appears to have gone out of control and crashed to the south east of Shanghai airport. The crew had just been cleared to continue their climb from 1,500m to 5,500m. There was no emergency call but reports of the CVR content suggest the crew had been discussing an unspecified control problem just before the aircraft went out of control. The possibility of a load shift or other centre of gravity problem has not been mentioned by the investigators so far. | ||||||
| 29 May | Malindi Air Services | Let L-410 (5Y-LET) | Massai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya | 2 | 2 | ER |
| The aircraft crashed on a positioning flight in daylight. CNK. | ||||||
| 30 Jun | Night Express | Beech 99 (D-IBEX) | Nr Liége, Belgium | 2 | 2 | ER |
| The night package flight from London Luton, UK was en route at FL110 bound for Frankfurt, Germany, when it advised ATC at Liége Bierset Airport, Belgium of an engine failure and that the aircraft could not maintain height. The aircraft was given radar vectors for Liége, but crashed about 5km short of the airfield. | ||||||
| NON-FATAL ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS: SCHEDULED PASSENGER FLIGHTS | ||||||
| Date | Carrier | Aircraft Type/ Registration | Location | Injuries crew/pax | Total Occupants crew/pax | Phase |
| 28 Jan | Alitalia | Boeing MD-82 (I-DAVN) | Catania, Sicily, Italy | -/- | 6/78 | L |
| Hard landing in darkness caused substantial damage. | ||||||
| 31 Jan | Air Algeria | Boeing 727-200Adv (7T-VEH) | Ain el Bey Apt, Constantine, Algeria | -/- | 7/92 | L |
| Directional control was lost on a snowy runway and the aircraft veered off the side. | ||||||
| 4 Mar | Air France | Boeing 737-200Adv (F-GBYA) | Parme Apt, Biarritz, France | -/- | 6/91 | L |
| Directional control was lost on the landing run and the aircraft ran off the left side of runway 27. The aircraft's nosegear dug into the ground and failed. The landing took place in darkness with strong winds, turbulence and rain. | ||||||
| 15 Mar | Korean Air | Boeing MD-83 (HL7570) | Pohang Apt, Korea | -/2 | 6/150 | L |
| The aircraft touched down long and fast from its second approach attempt in high winds and rain. It overran the runway at quite high speed stopping at the bottom of an embankment with the fuselage fractured. | ||||||
| 18 Mar | Korean Air | Airbus Industrie A300-600 | Cheju, Korea | -/- | ?/? | L |
| Windshear caused one main wheel unit to touch down on the grass beside the runway, so the crew initiated a go-around and diverted safely to Kwanju. | ||||||
| 20 Mar | Iberia | Boeing MD-87 (EC-GRL) | Cointrin Apt, Geneva, Switzerland | -/- | 6/101 | L |
| Nose gear remained jammed up, despite efforts to lower it, so the crew landed safely on a foam carpet at Geneva with minimal damage to the aircraft. The problem is believed to have been damage to the nosewheel water deflector during departure from Barcelona, Spain which jammed the nosegear up. | ||||||
| 20 Mar | Guinea Ecuatorial Airlines | Yakovlev Yak-40 (RA-87587) | Bata Apt, Bata, Ecuatorial Guinea | -/3 | 3/30 | TO |
| No 2 engine suffered bird ingestion and the crew aborted the take-off but the aircraft overran the runway into some trees. | ||||||
| 1 Apr | Korean Air | Boeing 747-400 | Chicago O'Hare Apt, Illinois, USA | -/- | ?/300 | TO |
| An Air China 747F had taken the wrong taxiway on the way to the freight centre after landing on runway 14R and taxied back on to the runway in the path of the Korean Air Boeing 747-400 that was taking off, passengers on board. The Korean aircraft avoided collision by lifting off and immediately banking right, missing the Air China aircraft by a reported 8m. | ||||||
| 5 Apr | Mandala Airlines | Boeing 737-200Adv (PK-RIL) | Unjung Pandang Apt, Sulawesi, Indonesia | -/- | 6/80 | L |
| While carrying out a 180° turn at the end of the wet runway to backtrack along it, the aircraft skidded off the side of the runway, causing damage to the left gear and engine. | ||||||
| 14 Apr | Air Vanuatu | Boeing 737-300 (YJ-AV18) | Sydney Intl Apt, Australia | -/- | ?/? | G |
| While taxiing, along with 40 others on the ground at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport, was hit and damaged by a severe hailstorm which lasted about 11min, some hailstones measuring up to 40mm in diameter. | ||||||
| 22 Apr | Million Air Charter | Boeing 727-100 (ZS-IJE) | Nr Lanseria, Zambia | -/- | 6?/60? | AA |
| The aircraft suffered major damage when it encountered a severe hailstorm while descending through 8,500ft toward Johannesburg, but it landed safely. The aircraft was written off. | ||||||
| 23 May | Continental Airlines | Boeing 737-700 | Over El Salvador | -/- | ?/? | ER |
| Encountered volcanic ash at high level and diverted safely to San Salvador. | ||||||
| 2 Jun | Delta Air Lines | Boeing 757 (N656DL) | Phoenix, Arizona, USA | -/- | 8/119 | L |
| Hard landing on nosegear. | ||||||
| 9 Jun | Shantou Airlines | Boeing 737-300 (B2525) | Zhanjiang, China | -/- | 8/73 | L |
| Aircraft ran off the runway in stormy weather and the landing gear collapsed. | ||||||
| NON-FATAL ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS: NON-SCHEDULED PASSENGER FLIGHTS | ||||||
| Date | Carrier | Aircraft Type/Registration | Location | Injuries crew/pax | Total Occupants crew/pax | Phase |
| 24 Mar | Amiri Flight | Airbus Industrie A300-600 (A6-PFD) | Diagoras Apt, Rhodes | -/- | 19/252 | L |
| Overran the runway in rain and strong winds. Nosewheel collapsed. Rhodes was a technical stop en route to Dubai, UAE-Rabat, Morocco. | ||||||
| NON-FATAL ACCIDENTS/INCIDENTS: REGIONAL AND COMMUTER AIRLINES | ||||||
| Date | Carrier | Aircraft Type/Registration | Location | Injuries crew/pax | Total Occupants crew/pax | Phase |
| 4 Jan | Regionnair | Beech 1900C (C-FGOI) | Nr St Augustin-Saguenay, Canada | -/- | 2/12 | L |
| The aircraft landed about 750m short of the runway on river ice while on an ILS approach in what the pilot described as virtual white-out, with reduced visibility in snow. | ||||||
| 7 Jan | Servivensa | Douglas DC-9 (YV-622C) | Cananaima Apt, Venezuela | -/- | 3/8 | L |
| After touchdown from a visual approach in strong crosswinds, as the tailwheel touched the ground the pilot lost directional control and the aircraft left the runway, causing its main gear to collapse. | ||||||
| 12 Feb | Widerøe Flyvelskap | DHC Dash 8-100 (LN-WIL) | Ammerfest Apt, Ammerfest, Norway | -/- | 3/7 | L |
| After touchdown from a visual approach, the left main gear leg began to collapse, the No1 engine propeller hit the ground and the aircraft veered left off the runway. The crew reported turbulence on the approach and the aircraft touched down "firmly". | ||||||
| 11 Mar | SAL Express | Beech 1900C-1 (S9-CAG) | 4 de Fevereiro Apt, Luanda, Angola | -/- | 2/15 | L |
| The nosegear would not extend, so the crew landed with it retracted. | ||||||
| 30 Mar | Air Nuigini | Fokker F28-4000 (P2-AND) | Goroka Apt, Goroka, Papua New Guinea | -/- | 5/65 | L |
| The port main gear collapsed on landing and the aircraft veered left off the runway, stopping in a ditch. | ||||||
| 23 Apr | Samoa Aviation | DHC Twin Otter 200 (N719AS) | Fitiuta Apt, American Samoa | -/- | 2/12 | L |
| When the pilot moved the power levers into the ground "beta" range, the aircraft lost directional control and ran off the runway, where its undercarriage was damaged. The left engine was changed two days previously, and the beta pin, its cotter pin and washer were found in the bottom of the cowling. The cotter pin was partially broken, and the missing part was not found. | ||||||
| 19 May | Centrafricain | Yakovlev Yak-40 (TL-ACO) | Berberati, Central African Republic | -/- | 3/30 | L |
| Overran the runway on landing. | ||||||
| 14 Jun | Thunder Airlines | Beech King Air 100 | Thunder Bay, Canada | -/- | 5 | L |
| Crashed shortly after take-off. | ||||||
| 21 Jun | Asian Spirit | NAMC YS-11 | Virak, Philippines | -/- | 4/51 | L |
| The scheduled flight inbound from Manila overran runway on landing. Nose gear dug in and collapsed. | ||||||
| NON-FATAL ACCIDENTS/INCIDENTS: NON-PASSENGER FLIGHTS | ||||||
| Date | Carrier | Aircraft Type/Registration | Location | Injuries crew/pax | Total Occupants crew/pax | Phase |
| 3 Jan | Antonov Design Bureau | Antonov An-22 | Guarapes Apt, Recife, Brazil | -/- | 20 | L |
| Gear failed to extend and aircraft carried out a gear-up landing. | ||||||
| 6 Jan | BAC Express Airlines | Shorts 330-200 (G-BHHU) | Luton Apt, UK | -/- | 2 | L |
| Carrying out a flapless landing practice during a crew training session, the aircraft hit windshear associated with a passing frontal system and landed hard but safely. | ||||||
| 20 Jan | ? | Antonov An-12 | Lukapa Apt, Angola | -/- | 7 | L |
| Directional control lost, and aircraft left runway. | ||||||
| 22 Jan | Colgan Air | Beech Commuter (N215CJ) | Barnstaple Apt, Hyannis, Nebraska, USA | -/- | 4 | L |
| The aircraft, on its third approach in visibility 350m in fog, suffered a very hard (3g) landing, the main gear partially failed and the aircraft left the runway. The landing was in darkness at 17:19 local time and the captain had started duty at 05:35 local time that morning. | ||||||
| 2 Feb | FedEx | Cessna 208B Caravan (N980FE) | Yelowstone Regional Apt, Wyoming, USA | -/- | 1 | G |
| While taxying for take-off, a strong gust of wind blew the aircraft onto its nose. | ||||||
| 7 Feb | Clipper International | Boeing 707-320F (9G-ROX) | Ivanca Apt, Bratislava, Slovak Republic | -/- | 3 | L |
| Overran the runway. | ||||||
| 8 Feb | El Al Cargo | Boeing 747-200F | Amsterdam Schiphol Apt, Netherands | -/- | 4 | L |
| Overran the runway when the surface was snowy, and nosegear suffered damage. The airline maintains that the crew had been refused their requested runway. | ||||||
| 11 Feb | Alaska Central Express | Beech 1900C (N31240) | Nr St Mary's, Alaska, USA | 1 | 1 | RA |
| The aircraft hit the ground 7.5km short of the runway threshold while carrying out a localiser/DME approach in darkness and poor weather, cloudbase at 200ft. | ||||||
| 14 Feb | 748 Air Services | BAe 748-2 (9L-LBG) | Foxtrot Airstrip, Sudan | -/- | 2 | L |
| When "ground fine" pitch was selected, only the right propeller actually did so. The aircraft veered to the right off the runway and down a steep slope, coming to a halt with the nosegear ripped off and the nose dug in. | ||||||
| 19 Feb | Avanti Air | Beech 1900D (D-CBSF) | Frankfurt Intl Apt, Germany | -/- | 2 | L |
| On a ferry flight, the crew failed to complete the landing checks and landed with the gear up. | ||||||
| 24 Feb | Aerolineas Argentinas | Boeing MD-88 (LV-VBY) | Buenos Aires, Argentina | -/- | -/- | G |
| Aircraft written off in hangar fire during fuel system maintenance. Early suggestions are that high pressure fuel spray was ignited by contact with a light in a wheelbay. | ||||||
| 1 Mar | Renown Aviation | Lockheed Electra (N285F) | Shannon Apt, Ireland | -/- | -/- | L |
| The crew, which had reported an engine problem, were about to land with the gear up (unintentionally) when the propellers began to hit the ground. A go-around was initiated, but the damage to the No 3 propeller caused the engine to separate from the wing and propeller parts to pierce the fuselage. The No 2 and No 4 propellers were also damaged by ground contact. The crew carried out a low left hand circuit and landed safely. Visibility was poor and cloudbase at 400ft. | ||||||
| 5 Mar | Air France | Boeing 747-200F (F-GPAN) | Meenambakam Apt, Chennai (Madras), India | -/- | 5 | L |
| The nosegear would not deploy, despite crew efforts, but they landed, believing it might be deployed. It was not and the nose was in contact with the ground for 2,000m before coming to a halt. The aircraft was destroyed by fire. | ||||||
| 1 Apr | Air China | Boeing 747F | Chicago O'Hare Apt, Illinois, USA | -/- | 5 | G |
| The aircraft took the wrong taxiway on the way to the freight centre after landing on runway 14R, and taxied back onto the runway in the path of a Korean Air Boeing 747-400 taking off with 300 passengers on board. The Korean aircraft avoided the collision by lifting off and immediately banking right, missing the Air China aircraft by a reported 8m. | ||||||
| 19 Apr | Larry's Flying Service | Pilatus Britten-Norman Islander (N414JA) | Kongiganak Apt, Alaska, USA | -/- | 1 | L |
| At the end of the landing run the nosewheel was severely damaged when it ran into a deep, water-filled hole in the runway surface. The runway was subsequently closed. | ||||||
| 12 May | Summit Aviation | Shorts Skyvan (C-FSDZ) | Matson Creek, Yukon, Canada | -/- | 2 | L |
| Touched down 100m short of the runway on a visual approach. There was a tailwind, the runway was undulating and had a net upward slope, which could have caused the pilot to misjudge his approach angle. | ||||||
| 17 May | CAMBA | Curtis C46F (CP-1319) | San Borja Ranch airstrip, Bolivia | -/- | ? | L |
| Touched down short of the runway on a visual approach, having shut down and feathered one engine that was backfiring heavily. | ||||||
| 17 May | Bemidji Airlines | Beech 99 (N133BA) | Bemidji, Minnesota, USA | -/- | 1 | L |
| Test flight after maintenance. Three red lights stayed on after gear retraction was selected after take-off and this situation could not be rectified. Left main gear collapsed during landing roll. | ||||||
| 28 Jun | FedEx | Airbus Industrie A310 (N420FE) | Manila, Philippines | -/- | 2 | L |
| Overran runway 24 in heavy rain and ran through the ILS localiser antenna. The nosegear and both engines were ripped off. | ||||||
Source: Flight International