According to statistics, the aircraft is the safest means of transportation. The probability of death as a result of a plane crash is approximately 1: 2 600 000.
However, despite this, many people, regardless of education, material status, are still afraid to fly on airplanes, although this means of transportation is becoming more common and affordable. For some people, fear arises from reports of another air disaster that claimed lives.
History knows many examples of terrible air accidents that caused the death of a large number of people. The 10 largest air crashes in the world will be discussed further.
List
- 10. Poland, May 9, 1987, 183 victims
- 9. USA, October 31, 1999, 217 victims
- 8. Democratic Republic of the Congo, 8 January 1996, 237 victims
- 7. Iran, February 19, 2003, 275 victims
- 6. Ukraine, July 17, 2014, 298 victims
- 5. Ireland, June 23, 1985, 329 victims
- 4. India, November 12, 1996, 349 victims
- 3. Japan, August 12, 1985, 520 victims
- 2. Tenerife, March 27, 1977, 583 victims
- 1. USA, September 11, 2001, 2,973 victims
10. Poland, May 9, 1987, 183 victims
Plane IL-62M On May 9, 1987, the Polish Airline LOT flew from Warsaw to New York. The first half hour of the flight passed without interference. Over the village of Warlubie in Pomerania, one of four engines failed.
This was followed by an explosion, a fire in the rear of the fuselage and decompression of the cockpit. The crew decided to return to the Warsaw airport. The struggle to keep the aircraft in the air and land on Oketsets lasted more than half an hour.
As a result, the plane crashed in the forest, less than 6 km from the threshold of the runway of the capital's airport. None of the 183 passengers and crew survived the crash. The cause of the accident was a defect in the design of engine components, which led to its damage during the flight.
9. USA, October 31, 1999, 217 victims
Plane Boeing 767 EgyptAir line with 203 passengers and 14 crew members on board flew from New York towards Cairo. After reaching a cruising altitude of more than 10 thousand meters, the car disappeared from radar over the Atlantic Ocean.
After reading the records from the flight parameters recorder and the voice recorder in the cockpit, it turned out that the co-pilot led the crash, who took the helm when the captain went to the toilet. He directed the plane nose down. The captain tried to save the situation, but the Boeing crashed on the surface of the water. None of the 217 people on board survived the crash.
The motives for the co-pilot's actions remain unclear. The Egyptian authorities did not agree with the report of the American commission, who called the cause of the disaster a technical malfunction.
8. Democratic Republic of the Congo, 8 January 1996, 237 victims
Transport aircraft An-32Bbelonging to the company Moscow Airways, was preparing precisely for departure to the south of the country. The flight began in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Kinshasa. The plane began to take off, but could not take off the ground, so the pilots decided to interrupt the work and brake the car.
The investigation concluded that the plane was heavily overloaded and it was because of this that it could not take off.
7. Iran, February 19, 2003, 275 victims
Aircraft IL-76 made domestic flight from Zahedan to Kerman, Iran. On board were 18 crew members and 257 passengers - members of the Islamic Corps of the Guardians of the Revolution - a branch of the armed forces called up after the 1979 revolution by a special decree of Khomeini.
About 35 km from Kerman Airport, the plane crashed into a mountainside. Initial hypotheses talked about a possible collision in the air with another car (due to the extremely large number of passengers as for the Amp-76). On the other hand, one of the local terrorist groups claimed responsibility for the disaster.
It turned out that the cause of the accident was difficult weather conditions. None of the 275 people on board survived.
6. Ukraine, July 17, 2014, 298 victims
July 17, 2014 plane Boeing 777 lines flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The vast majority of those on board were Dutch citizens. There were also 80 children among the passengers and several scientists traveling to Melbourne for an AIDS conference.
4 hours after takeoff, the plane disappeared from the radar, flying at an altitude of more than 10 thousand meters above eastern Ukraine, several tens of kilometers from Russian airspace. None of the 298 people present on board survived this disaster.
5. Ireland, June 23, 1985, 329 victims
On the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, a car suddenly disappeared from radar. After 2 hours, the wreckage of the aircraft was found. As a result of the disaster, none of the passengers and crew members survived.
A preliminary analysis of the black boxes showed that all Boeing systems worked correctly until the last seconds. As a result, it turned out that an explosion of cargo placed in the suitcase of one of the passengers who had not boarded the plane led to the disaster.
Those responsible for the attack were captured and convicted - all of them were members of the Sikh separatist organization, whose task was to recognize New Delhi's independence of the Sikh region.
4. India, November 12, 1996, 349 victims
The catastrophe occurred at an altitude of 4200 m above the Indian town of Charkhi-Dadryakh. Participated in the accident Boeing 747 Saudi Arabian Airlines lines, and IL-76 Kazakhstan Airlines line with 37 passengers and crew members.
The Saudi plane took off from the Indian capital a moment earlier and was already in the ascending phase, while the Kazakh Il-76 had already begun its descent towards the capital's airport.
The direct cause of the accident was non-compliance by the Kazakh aircraft crew with dispatcher teams. None of the 349 people aboard both cars survived this accident.
3. Japan, August 12, 1985, 520 victims
August 12, 1985 Boeing 747belonging to the Japan Airlines line made a short domestic flight from Tokyo to Osaka. 12 minutes after taking off from the Japanese capital, an explosion occurred on board. The crew decided to return to Tokyo, but landing was impossible, as the plane lost stability.
Driving a car for reasons unknown to the crew became increasingly difficult. After almost half an hour of fighting to maintain the Boeing in the air, the plane crashed on the side of the mountain. 520 people died, and only four survived. During the investigation, it turned out that the cause of the disaster was a technical malfunction.
After the disaster, Japan Airlines was in a deep crisis, and one of the directors responsible for contacts with the families of the victims committed suicide.
The criticism of the Japanese public was also caused by the significant delay in the action of the rescue service, which reached the survivors only 14 hours after the tragedy. An autopsy of the victims showed that some of them did not die due to injuries, but from hypothermia, therefore, there could be fewer deaths if help arrived on time.
2. Tenerife, March 27, 1977, 583 victims
On March 27, 1977, the airport in Tenerife survived the siege in connection with the redirection of aircraft due to bombing on a neighboring island. He was not ready to serve so many large aircraft. In addition, a dense haze reigned in the vicinity, which significantly limited visibility. Under these conditions, a collision occurred. two Boeings 747 - Dutch lines KLM and American Pan Am.
The collision occurred not in the air, but on the runway - the crew of the KLM airline started a “launch” without the consent of the flight control, when the American car was still on the runway. The Dutch pilots did not see obstacles in the fog, and finally seeing him, they tried to turn the plane, but it crashed into the upper deck of the Boeing. In total, the tragedy claimed 583 lives.
1. USA, September 11, 2001, 2,973 victims
These terrible events went down in history as the largest terrorist act. 19 hijackers belonging to al-Qaeda seized 4 aircraft.
The first of the hijacked planes, Boeing 767 with 92 people on board, crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York. A few minutes later another Boeing 767owned by United Airlines, with 60 people on board, crashed into another tower. Half an hour later, another Boeing 757 American Airlines crashed into the Pentagon building.
Only the fourth plane - Boeing 757 United Airlines with 44 passengers on board - did not reach the goal of the terrorists, which was supposed to be the White House or the Capitol. The passengers, learning about the fate of the remaining stolen vehicles, attempted to bounce the Boeing from the hands of the abductors. As a result of the struggle and chaos that arose on board, the plane crashed in Pennsylvania, about 250 km from the US capital.