Other crashes with high (250+) death tolls[edit]

349: On November 12, 1996, the world's deadliest[12] mid-air collision was the 1996 Charkhi
Dadri mid-air collision involving Saudia Flight 763 and Air Kazakhstan Flight 1907
over Haryana, India. The crash was mainly the result of the Kazakh pilot flying lower than the
assigned clearance altitude. All 349 passengers and crew on board both aircraft died.
[13]

The Ramesh Chandra Lahoti Commission, empowered to study the causes,

recommended the creation of "air corridors" to prevent aircraft from flying in opposite
directions at the same altitude.[14] The Civil Aviation Authorities in India made it mandatory for
all aircraft flying in and out of India to be equipped with a Traffic Collision Avoidance
System (TCAS), setting a worldwide precedent for mandatory use of TCAS.
346: On March 3, 1974, Turkish Airlines Flight 981, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, crashed
in a forest northeast of Paris, France. The London-bound plane crashed shortly after taking
off from Orly airport; all 346 people on board died. It was later determined that the cargo
door detached, which caused an explosive decompression; this caused the floor just above
to collapse. The collapsed floor severed the control cables, which left the pilots without
control of the elevators, the rudder and No. 2 engine.[15] The plane entered a steep dive and
crashed. It was the deadliest plane crash of all time until the Tenerife disaster in 1977.[6]
329: On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182 Boeing 747-237B crashed off the southwest
coast of Ireland when a bomb exploded in the cargo hold. All 307 passengers and 22 crew
members died.[16] One passenger had checked in as "M. Singh". Singh did not board the
flight, however, his suitcase containing the bomb was loaded onto the plane. "Mr Singh" was
never identified and captured. It was later determined Sikh extremists were behind the
bombing as a retaliation for the Indian government's attack on the Golden Temple in the city
of Amritsar, which is very important for the Sikhs. This was, at the time, the deadliest terrorist
attack involving an airplane.[17]
301: On August 19, 1980, Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011 became the
world's deadliest aviation accident that did not involve a physical crash. The crew performed
a successful emergency landing after a fire broke out in the aft C-3 baggage compartment,
which eventually burned through the ceiling of that compartment and then expanded into the
aft passenger cabin. While the crew managed to land the plane safely, the Captain did not
stop immediately and order an evacuation. Instead, he took the time to taxi off the runway
and by then, everyone had become unconscious and no one opened any doors to begin the
evacuation. All 301 passengers and crew died in the fire before rescue ground crews could
open any door.[18]
298: On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala
Lumpur with 298 people on board was shot down in an area of Eastern Ukraine near the
Ukraine/Russian border. No survivors have been reported following this accident. There

were 283 passengers, including 3 infants, and 15 crew members on board MH17. The crew
were all Malaysian, while the 283 passengers were of various nationalities, the majority of
them from the Netherlands. According to a Dutch report, high-energy objects hit the plane in
midair, causing it to break apart.[19]
290: On July 3, 1988, Iran Air Flight 655, an Iranian civilian airliner, was shot down by
two surface-to-air missiles from the U.S. Navy's guided missile cruiser, USS Vincennes, over
the Strait of Hormuz. All 290 passengers and crew aboard died.[20]