Deadliest air disasters in the 21st century
PARIS, France (AFP) — A London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed on Thursday in India, with 242 people on board, and police said there “appears to be no survivor”.
Here is a list of the deadliest plane disasters in the 21st century, excluding the September 11, 2001 attacks:
– 298 killed, Ukraine –
On July 17, 2014 Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam.
All 298 people aboard the Boeing 777 were killed, including 193 Dutch nationals.
In May this year, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) blamed Russia for the downing of the jetliner, a ruling Moscow dismissed as “biased”.
– 275 killed, Iran –
On February 19, 2003, a Russian-made Ilyushin Il-76 belonging to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) crashed near Kerman in the southeast of the country.
All 275 people on board were killed.
The aircraft disappeared from radars an hour after takeoff, after sending a request to airport control in Kerman to land due to bad weather.
– 265 killed, New York –
On November 12, 2001 an American Airlines Airbus A300 crashed in the New York borough of Queens shortly after taking off, killing all 260 on board and five people on the ground.
The plane was bound for Saint-Domingue, in the Dominican Republic, departing from New York’s John F Kennedy airport.
– 257 killed, Algiers –
On April 11, 2018, an Ilyushin Il-76 heavy transport aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from a military base south of the capital Algiers, killing all 257 people on board.
The passengers were mostly military personnel and members of their families.
– At sea –
The three next deadliest air crashes were at sea.
– On March 8, 2014 Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard.
Despite an intense search in the southern Indian Ocean, the Boeing 777-200 was never found.
– On June 1, 2009 an Air France Airbus A330 disappeared over the Atlantic in a zone of turbulence after taking off from Rio de Janeiro on flight AF447 to Paris with 228 passengers and crew on board.
It took two years to find the wreckage of the plane.
– On May 25, 2002, a China Airlines Boeing 747-200 smashed into the Taiwan Strait, killing all 225 people on board.
The aircraft, headed for Hong Kong, disintegrated mid-flight some 20 minutes after taking off from Taipei.
