Plane Crashes of the 1970s
Commercial Plane Crashes in 1970
February 15 – Contaminated fuel causes dual engine failure shortly after takeoff from Las Américas International Airport near Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in the Dominicana DC-9 air disaster; all 102 on board were killed.
February 21 – A bomb in the cargo hold of Swissair Flight 330, a Convair CV-990, detonates nine minutes after takeoff from Zürich International Airport in Kloten, Switzerland; all 38 passengers and nine crew perish.
March 31 – Japan Airlines Flight 351 is hijacked to North Korea by a Japanese Red Army faction.
April 21 – Philippine Airlines Flight 215, a Hawker Siddeley HS 748, explodes in mid-air and crashes 75 miles north of Manila killing all 36 on board. A bomb is suspected.
May 2 – ALM Flight 980 operated by Overseas National Airways, ditches near St. Croix, Virgin Islands, killing 23, including two infants and one crew member. 40 people, including 4 crew members, survive.
July 5 – Air Canada Flight 621 explodes following a failed landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport, with 109 fatalities.
August 9 – LANSA Flight 502, crashes and burns shortly after takeoff from Cuzco, Peru, killing 99 people on the plane and two on the ground. Among the dead are 49 U.S. high school exchange students.
August 12 – China Airlines Flight 206, a NAMC YS-11, crashes in thick fog and a severe thunderstorm into Yuan Mountain, near Taipei International Airport, killing 14 of 31 people on board.
September 6 – The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine orchestrates the Dawson’s Field hijackings of El Al Flight 219, Pan Am Flight 93, Swissair Flight 100, TWA Flight 741, and (on September 9) BOAC Flight 775; the unprecedented scale of the incident draws international outrage and plays a major role in instigating the eventual widespread implementation of air passenger screening, previously done only haphazardly and inconsistently.
October 2 – In what is known as the Wichita State Crash, a Martin 4-0-4 aircraft crashes near Silver Plume, Colorado. It is one of two planes carrying the Wichita State University football team to Logan, Utah, for a game. Twenty-eight passengers, the plane’s captain, and a flight attendant die out of forty passengers on board.
November 14 – Southern Airways Flight 932, a chartered Douglas DC-9, crashes on approach at Tri-State Airport in Huntington, West Virginia, killing all 75 on board, including 37 players of the Marshall University football team and all but one of the coaching staff.
Commercial Plane Crashes in 1971
June 6 – A United States Marine Corps McDonnell-Douglas F-4B Phantom II fighter jet collides with Hughes Airwest Flight 706, a Douglas DC-9, which crashes into the San Gabriel Mountains near Duarte, California, killing all 49 people aboard; the pilot of the Phantom also dies, while his radar intercept officer successfully bails out.
July 3 – Toa Domestic Airlines Flight 533, a NAMC YS-11, hits Yokotsu Mountain near Hakodate Airport, Hokkaido, Japan, killing all 68 passengers and crew in the worst ever disaster involving the YS-11.
July 30 – ANA Flight 58 collides with a JSDF F-86 fighter jet at Shizukuishi near Morioka, Japan, killing all 162 passengers and crew. The JSDF pilot parachutes to safety, and is later arrested by local police on suspicion of colliding with a civilian aircraft.
July 30 – Pan American Airways Flight 845, a Boeing 747-100, attempts to take off from San Francisco at the wrong speed, over-running the runway and colliding with approach lighting structures. The aircraft sustains damage to flight control and other systems, but becomes airborne, circles over the ocean to dump fuel, and lands back in San Francisco; of the 218 on board, 29 are injured, 10 seriously.
September 4 – Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes into a mountain in the Tongass National Forest near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 on board.
November 24 – A man reported as D. B. Cooper hijacks Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 out of Portland, Oregon, releasing the passengers in exchange for US$200,000 and four parachutes. The crew takes off with Cooper on board, and he parachutes from the plane. Cooper is never found and his fate remains unknown, although a roll of bills from his ransom is found in a riverbed many years later.
December 24 – LANSA Flight 508 en route from Lima to Pucallpa, Peru, breaks apart in mid-air after being set aflame by lightning. The plane crashes in the Amazon Rainforest and 91 people die. One teenage girl survives after falling two miles down into the Amazon rainforest strapped to her seat. She walked through the jungle for 10 days until being rescued by local lumbermen.
Commercial Plane Crashes in 1972
January 26 – JAT Yugoslav Flight 367 suffers a bomb explosion while en route from Copenhagen to Zagreb; twenty-seven of twenty-eight on board are killed. Vesna Vulovic, the only survivor, is entered in the Guinness Book of World Records for surviving the longest fall without a parachute, over ten thousand meters.
March 3 – Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes near Albany, New York while descending to land, killing 16 of the 48 people on board and 1 on the ground.
March 14 – Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashes near Kalba, United Arab Emirates due to pilot error. All 112 on board die in the worst air disaster in the history of the United Arab Emirates.
March 19 – EgyptAir Flight 763 crashes on approach to Aden International Airport, killing all 30 passengers and crew.
May 5 – Alitalia Flight 112, a Douglas DC-8 flying from Leonardo da Vinci Airport, Rome, Italy, to Palermo International Airport crashes into Mount Longa, about 5 km (3.1 mi) south-west of Palermo while on approach, killing all 115 passengers and crew; it remains the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy.
May 18 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 346, a Douglas DC-9 flying from Miami International Airport to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport with an intermediate stop at Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport crashes upon landing in Ft Lauderdale due to pilot error resulting in ten injuries and no fatalities.
June 12 – American Airlines Flight 96, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, suffers explosive decompression when one of its cargo doors fails in flight; the crew manages an emergency landing at Detroit, Michigan and all 67 on board evacuate safely.
June 15 – A carry-on suitcase bomb explodes on Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z at 29,000 feet over Vietnam. All 81 on board perish.
June 18 – British European Airways Flight 548, a Hawker Siddeley Trident, undergoes a series of stalls as a result of pilot error, followed by a deep stall, crashing near Staines, United Kingdom; all 118 on board are killed.
June 24 – Prinair Flight 191, a De Havilland Heron, over-rotates because of pilot error and crashes in Ponce, Puerto Rico, killing 5 of 20 people on board.
August 14 – An Interflug Ilyushin Il-62, registered DM-SEA, crashes near Königs Wusterhausen, all 156 passengers and crew are killed in Germany’s worst air disaster.
September 24 – Japan Airlines Flight 472, a Douglas DC-8, overruns the runway after landing at the wrong airport; no fatalities.
October 13 – Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, a Fairchild FH-227, crashes in the Andes; passengers survive for 72 days by feeding on the dead.
December 8 – United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 43 of 60 people on board and 2 people on the ground; among those killed was Dorothy Hunt, wife of Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt.
December 8 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631 Entered a heavy rainstorm on an approach and crashed into a hillside. The airliner broke into three pieces. All 26 people aboard perished on the hillside.
December 23 – Braathens SAFE Flight 239 crashes in Asker upon landing at Fornebu airport, Oslo, Norway, killing 40 of 45 people on board.
December 29 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes in the Florida Everglades, killing 103 of 176 people on board; the crew is distracted by a faulty gear-down light, resulting in controlled flight into terrain; this is the first crash of a widebody aircraft and the first loss of a Lockheed Tristar.
Commercial Plane Crashes in 1973
January 29 – An EgyptAir Ilyushin Il-18 crashes in the Kyrenia mountain range while on approach to Nicosia International Airport; all 37 on board die.
February 21 – Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 strays off course and is shot down by Israeli jets in the Sinai war zone, killing 108 of 113 people on board.
April 10 – Invicta International Airlines Flight 435, a Vickers Vanguard 952 from Bristol Lulsgate to Basle, flies into a hillside near Hochwald, Switzerland, somersaults and breaks up, killing 108 with 40 survivors.
June 20 – Aeroméxico Flight 229, a Douglas DC-9, crashes into the side of Las Minas Mountain while on approach to Lic. Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport. All 27 on board die.
July 11 – Varig Flight 820 experiences an on-board fire and crashes near Paris, France, killing 123 out of 134 on board.
July 22 – Pan American World Airways Flight 816, a Boeing 707, crashes shortly after takeoff from Faa’a's airport Tahiti, French Polynesia killing 77 out of 78 on board.
July 23 – Japan Air Lines Flight 404, a Boeing 747, is hijacked after takeoff from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands; one hijacker is killed and the flight’s purser injured by a grenade blast; after several days and multiple flight legs, the passengers are released in Benghazi, Libya and the aircraft is blown up on the ground.
July 31 – Delta Air Lines Flight 723, a Douglas DC-9, descends prematurely and crashes on final approach to Boston Logan International Airport, killing all on board; probable cause is unstabilized final approach by the flight crew.
August 13 – Aviaco Flight 118, a Sud Caravelle en-route from Madrid to A Coruña crashes while approaching A Coruña Alvedro airport, in Montrove, 2 km from the airport; 84 of 85 died.
September 11 – A JAT Yugoslav Airlines Sud Aviation Caravelle crashes into Mt. Maganik near Kolašin, Montenegro, killing all 41 on board.
September 27 – Texas International Airlines Flight 655, a Convair 600, crashes into Black Fork Mountain while avoiding thunderstorms, killing all 11 passengers and crew on board.
December 17 – Pan Am Flight 110, a Boeing 707, is firebombed by Palestinian gunmen while at gate in Rome, Italy killing 29 of 68 passengers and crew; other gunmen then hijack a Lufthansa Boeing 737 to Athens; in total, 33 die as a result of the firebombing and hijacking.
Commercial Plane Crashes in 1974
January 26 – A Turkish Airlines Fokker F28 crashes after takeoff from Izmir Cumaovasi Airport due to wing icing. Of the 73 on board, only 7 survive.
January 30- Pan American World Airways Flight 806, a Boeing 707-321B, crashes on approach to Pago Pago International Airport on American Samoa. 97 of the 101 passengers and crew on board are killed.
March 3 – Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashes in the Ermenonville forest near Senlis, France after the rear underfloor cargo door opens during flight. All 346 on board die.
April 22- Pan American World Airways Flight 812, a Boeing 707-321B, crashes into mountainous terrain 42.5 nautical miles northwest of Denpasar, Bali,. All 107 passengers and crew on board are killed.
September 8 – TWA Flight 841 breaks up after a bomb explodes in the cargo hold and plunges into the Ionian Sea, killing all 88 on board.
September 11 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 212, crashes on approach to Charlotte, North Carolina; 72 of 82 people on board are killed.
September 15 – Air Vietnam Flight 706, a Boeing 727, is hijacked and crashes in Phan Rang, Vietnam; all 75 on board die.
November 20 – Lufthansa Flight 540 crashes shortly after takeoff in Nairobi, Kenya; 59 of 157 on board are killed in the first crash of a Boeing 747.
December 1 – TWA Flight 514, a Boeing 727 inbound to Dulles International Airport, crashes into Mount Weather in Bluemont, Virginia, killing all 85 passengers and 7 crew.
December 4 – Martinair Flight 138, a Douglas DC-8 on a charter flight, crashed into a mountain shortly before landing, on approach to Katunayake, Sri Lanka for a refueling stop; killing all aboard – 182 Indonesian hajj pilgrims bound for Mecca, and 9 crew members.
December 29 – An Antonov An-24 (YR-AMD) operating on a domestic scheduled flight from Bucharest to Sibiu, crashed into the side of the Muntii Lotrului (22km south of Sibiu) at an altitude of 1700 m, killing all 28 passengers and 5 crew members. The crew’s incorrect approach procedure execution, which lead to the aircraft drifting south off course by 20 km, while the wind was increasing turbulence was present.
Commercial Plane Crashes in 1975
January 9 – Golden West Airlines Flight 261, a De Havilland Twin Otter, collides with a Cessna 150 near Whittier, California, killing all 14 people in both aircraft.
January 30 – Turkish Airlines Flight 345, a Fokker F-28, crashes into the Sea of Marmara after a missed approach; all 42 on board die; the cause is never determined.
March 31 – Western Airlines Flight 470 overruns the runway at Casper/Natrona County International Airport and crashes into a ditch;. All 99 on board survive.
June 24 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 66, a Boeing 727, encounters wind shear on final approach and strikes approach lights at John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing 112 of 124 people on board.
August 3 – An Air Maroc-operated Boeing 707, owned by Royal Jordanian Airlines, crashes while on approach to Agadir, Morocco due to pilot error; all 188 on board die.
August 30 – Wien Air Alaska Flight 99, crashes into Seuvokuk Mountain, Alaska while on approach to Iliamna Airport, killing 10 of 32 on board.
September 24 – Garuda Indonesia Flight 150 crashes while on approach to Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in foggy weather; 25 of 61 on board die and one person on the ground also dies.
September 30 – Malév Flight 240 crashes on approach near Lebanon, killing all 60 people on board.
October 30 – Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 450 crashes on approach in Prague suburb, killing 75 of 120 on board.
Commercial Plane Crashes in 1976
January 1 – Middle East Airlines Flight 438 crashes in Saudi Arabia when a bomb explodes in the forward baggage compartment, killing all 81 people on board.
April 27 – American Airlines Flight 625, crashes on approach to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, killing 37 of 88 people on board.
June 1 – Aeroflot Flight 418 crashes into a mountain side on the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea; all 45 on board die.
June 27 – Air France Flight 139 is hijacked from Athens by two Palestinians and two Germans who divert the flight to Libya and then to Uganda, where the plane is met by pro-Palestinian forces from Idi Amin’s government; Israeli troops eventually storm the airport in Operation Entebbe, killing hijackers and Ugandan soldiers and freeing all but three of the hostages; Israeli colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, is also killed in the raid.
July 28 – CSA Flight 001, an Ilyushin Il-18, crashes near Bratislava in Czechoslovakia, killing 76 of 78 people on board.
August 15 – SAETA Flight 232 goes missing mid-route from Quito to Cuenca, Ecuador; all 4 crew members and 55 passengers are killed, but the scene remains undiscovered for 26 years until October 17, 2002, when climbers on the eastern face of the stratovolcano Chimborazo come upon the site.
September 10 – A mid-air collision occurs between a British Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident and an Inex-Adria Douglas DC-9 near Zagreb, Yugoslavia, killing all 176 people on board both aircraft.
September 19 – Turkish Airlines Flight 452, a Boeing 727, crashes into a hillside near Karatepe, Turkey, while on approach to Antalya Airport; all 154 passengers and crew die.
October 6 – Cubana Flight 455, a Douglas DC-8, is bombed by anti-Castro militants and crashes near Bridgetown, Barbados, killing all 73 people on board.
December 25 – EgyptAir Flight 864, a Boeing 707, crashes into an industrial complex near Bangkok, Thailand due to pilot error; all 52 on board are killed as well as another 19 on the ground.
Commercial Plane Crashes in 1977
January 15 – Skyline Sweden-operated Linjeflyg Flight 618 crashes in Kälvesta, Sweden just outside Stockholm, killing all 22 on board.
March 27 – KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736, both Boeing 747s, collide on the runway in the Tenerife disaster (Los Rodeos Airport) Tenerife Canary Islands; 583 of 644 people on board both aircraft are killed in the worst accident in the history of commercial aviation.
April 4 – Southern Airways Flight 242, a Douglas DC-9, crash-lands on a highway near New Hope, Georgia after dual engine failure encountered in a thunderstorm; 63 out of 85 aboard are killed, along with 9 people on the ground.
April 27 – An Aviateca Convair 240 crashes near Guatemala City, Guatemala, killing all 28 people on board.
May 14 – A Dan-Air/IAS Cargo Boeing 707 crashes near Lusaka, Zambia, killing all 6 on board.
May 27 – An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 crashes on approach in Havana, Cuba; 68 out of 70 people on board are killed plus one person on the ground. It remains the second-worst air accident in Cuba’s history.
September 28 – Japan Air Lines Flight 472 is hijacked after taking off from Mumbai, India by Japanese Red Army (JRA) terrorists, who force the plane to land in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where they demand US$6,000,000 and the release of nine imprisoned JRA members being held in Japan; the Japanese government complies and all of the hostages are eventually released.
October 13 – Lufthansa Flight 181, a Boeing 737, is hijacked by four Palestinian members of the PFLP, who kill the captain; subsequently, German police commandos from GSG 9 storm the aircraft, killing three of the hijackers and capturing the fourth, with no other casualties.
October 20 – Lynyrd Skynyrd’s chartered Convair 240 airliner runs out of fuel en route to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, crashing five miles (8 km) north of Gillsburg, Mississippi in a swampy pine forest while trying to reach an alternate airport; band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, plus assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick and the two pilots of the plane, are killed in the accident.
November 19 – TAP Portugal Flight 425, a Boeing 727, overruns the runway at Madeira Airport and plunges over a steep bank, bursting into flames and killing 131 of the 164 people on board.
December 4 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 is hijacked under mysterious circumstances; minutes later, the airliner crashes into a swamp near Tanjung Kupang, Malaysia at a steep angle, killing all 100 people aboard.
December 17 – United Airlines Flight 2860 crashes in the Wasatch Range in Utah, killing the 3 crew on board.
December 18 – SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 crashes into the sea while on final approach to Madeira Airport, killing 36 people.
Commercial Plane Crashes in 1978
January 1 – Air India Flight 855 crashes into the Arabian Sea as a result of instrument malfunction and pilot error; all 213 passengers and crew die.
February 11 – Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a 737-200 from Edmonton crashes at Cranbrook Airport after thrust reversers did not fully stow following a rejected landing, killing 42 of the 48 people on board.
March 16 – Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 crashes near the village of Gabare, Bulgaria; all 73 people on board die.
April 20 – Korean Air Lines Flight 902 is shot down by Soviet fighter planes; the plane crash-lands near the Soviet Union’s border with Finland; two of the 109 people on board are killed, the rest were subsequently released.
May 8 – National Airlines Flight 193, a Boeing 727, lands short on approach to Pensacola, Florida, United States in Escambia Bay, as a result of pilot error; three passengers out of fifty-eight people on board drown.
June 26 – Air Canada Flight 189 crashes on takeoff in Toronto, Ontario, Canada because of tire failure; two die out of 107 passengers on board.
September 3 – Air Rhodesia Flight RH825 from Kariba to Salisbury is shot down by a SA-7 surface-to-air missile; eighteen of the fifty-six passengers initially survive the emergency landing, 10 are subsequently killed by ZIPRA militants.
September 25 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182, a Boeing 727, collides with a Cessna 172 over San Diego, California, United States; all 135 aboard the airliner, both pilots of the Cessna, and 7 people on the ground are killed, making this the worst aviation disaster in California history.
November 15 – Icelandic Airlines Flight LL 001, a Douglas DC-8 on a charter flight, crashes into a coconut plantation while on approach to Katunayake, Sri Lanka for a refueling stop; 183 out of 262 people on board are killed.
December 23 – Alitalia Flight 4128, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea when on approach to Palermo International Airport in Palermo, Italy. 108 of the 129 passengers and crew on board are killed.
December 28 – United Airlines Flight 173, a Douglas DC-8, runs out of fuel while circling near Portland, Oregon, United States, as the crew investigates a light indicating a problem with the landing gear; the plane crashes in a wooded area, killing 10 and injuring 24 of the 181 on board.
Commercial Plane Crashes in 1979
January 30 – A Varig Boeing 707 on a flight from Narita International Airport to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport disappears over the Pacific 125 mi (201 km) from Japan.
February 12 – Air Rhodesia Flight RH827 is shot down by ZIPRA militants using a SA-7 (Strela 2) surface-to-air missile soon after take off in similar circumstances to Flight RH825 five month earlier; all 55 passengers and 4 crew are killed.
April 4 – Trans World Airlines Flight 841 goes into a dive over Saginaw, Michigan; the aircraft makes an emergency landing at Detroit; all on board survive.
May 25 – American Airlines Flight 191, a McDonnell-Douglas DC-10, crashes on takeoff from O’Hare International Airport after an engine falls off, killing all 271 on board and 2 on the ground; prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks, this was the deadliest airliner occurrence in American history, and it remains the worst single-aircraft airliner accident on US soil.
June 17 – Air New England Flight 248, a De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, crashes near Camp Greenough, Massachusetts while on approach to Barnstable Municipal Airport, killing the pilot.
July 11 – A Garuda Indonesia Fokker F28 strikes a volcano on approach to Medan Airport, Indonesia, killing all 61 on board.
July 31 – A Dan-Air Flight 0034 failed to become airborne at Sumburgh Airport, Scotland. Of the 47 on board, 15 passengers and two crew die.
August 11 – Two Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134s collide over Dniprodzerzhynsk, Ukraine, killing 178.
October 8 – Comair Flight 444, a Piper PA-31 Navajo, crashes on takeoff from Greater Cincinnati Airport; killing all eight on board.
October 31 – Western Airlines Flight 2605, a McDonnell-Douglas DC-10, strikes a vehicle on a closed runway in dense fog at Mexico City, Mexico; 72 die.
November 26 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 crashes after a fire in the cabin in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; all 145 passengers and 11 crew die.
November 28 – Air New Zealand Flight 901 collides with Mount Erebus, Antarctica during a sightseeing flight, killing all 257 people on board; also known known as the Mount Erebus Disaster.
December 23 – A Turkish Airlines Fokker F28 crashes into a hillside near Kuyumcuköy, Ankara, Turkey while on approach to Esenboga Airport; of the 45 on board, only 4 survive.
Annalise Kaylor is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant specializing in search engine optimized content for the web. As a writer, her work has appeared across the United States in print ads for Whirlpool, Maytag, Home Depot, and Lowe's, among others. As a consultant, she has worked primarily in the education sector, helping universities increase their web visibility and construct and implement social media strategy. Annalise is an avid reader, knitter, organic gardener and baker, as well as the author of the popular baking blog, Knead To Be Loaved. Annalise enjoys fly fishing, camping, and hiking.
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