Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York on July 17, 1996 at approximately 8:31 p.m. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, on a scheduled international passenger flight to Rome with a stopover in Paris. All 230 people on board died in the crash; it is the third-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history. Accident investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) traveled to the scene, arriving the following morning amid speculation that a terrorist attack was the cause of the crash.
Sterling Airlines A/S was a low-cost airline with its head office at Copenhagen Airport South in Dragør, Dragør Municipality, Denmark. It was created in September 2005 through the merger of two Danish airlines — Sterling European Airlines and Maersk Air — which had been acquired by the Icelandic investment group Fons Eignarhaldsfélag a few months before for MDKK 500. Fons was owned by Icelandic business tycoon Palmi Haraldsson. One month after the merger, Sterling Airlines was sold to the FL Group for an amount of MDKK 1500. In December 2006, Sterling was sold again, this time to Nordic Travel Holding. On 6 January 2006, Hannes Þór Smárason, CEO of the FL Group, stated that a merger of EasyJet and Sterling was a possibility.
The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s, and made its maiden flight on May 27, 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for the de Havilland Comet. SNCASE merged into the larger Sud Aviation conglomerate before the aircraft entered revenue service on April 26, 1959, with Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS); 282 were built until production ended in 1972. It was ordered by airlines on every continent and operated until its retirement in 2005.
On 27 June 1980, Itavia Flight 870, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 passenger jet en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea between the islands of Ponza and Ustica, killing all 81 people on board.
Swissair Flight 306, a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III, named Schaffhausen, was a scheduled international flight from Zürich to Rome, via Geneva. It crashed near Dürrenäsch, Aargau, on 4 September 1963, shortly after take-off, killing all 80 people on board.
Aerosucre S.A. is a cargo airline based in Bogotá, Colombia. It began operation in 1969 and operates scheduled international and domestic cargo services throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Its home base is El Dorado International Airport, Bogotá. Aerosucre has been involved in a number of accidents and incidents during its lifetime, and more recently, internet videos have emerged showcasing reckless behavior by its pilots.
Aer Lingus Flight 712 crashed en route from Cork to London on 24 March 1968, killing all 61 passengers and crew. The aircraft, a Vickers Viscount 803 named St. Phelim, crashed into the sea off Tuskar Rock, County Wexford. Although the investigation into the crash lasted two years, a cause was never determined. Causes proposed in several investigative reports include possible impact with birds, a missile or target drone, or mechanical and structural failures.
The 2007 TransAVIAexport Airlines Il-76 crash refers to an Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft operated by that Belarusian airline that crashed in the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia, on 23 March 2007, during the Battle of Mogadishu. The plane was carrying repair equipment and humanitarian aid. According to a spokesperson for the transport ministry of Belarus, the aircraft was shot down. However, the Somali government insisted that the crash was accidental. A crew of eleven on board the aircraft perished in the accident.
SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 was a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle 10R aircraft, registered as HB-ICK, that crashed on approach to Funchal Airport, Madeira, on December 18, 1977.
Iberia Flight 062 was a twin-engined Sud Aviation Caravelle registered EC-BDD operating a scheduled flight from Málaga Airport, Spain, to London Heathrow Airport. While on approach to Heathrow on 4 November 1967, the Caravelle descended far below the flight level assigned to it and flew into the southern slope of Blackdown Hill in West Sussex, killing all 37 on board.
Air France has been in operation since 1933. Its aircraft have been involved in a number of major accidents and incidents. The deadliest accident of the airline occurred on June 1, 2009, when Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-203, flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean with 228 fatalities. A selected list of the most noteworthy of these events is given below.
On 14 March 1972, Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashed into a mountain ridge on approach to Dubai in Al Hail, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Flight 296 was a charter flight from Colombo to Copenhagen with stops in Bombay, Dubai, and Ankara. All 112 passengers and crew on board died in the crash which was attributed to pilot error. The flight was operated by a Sud Aviation Caravelle, registration OY-STL. To date, it is the deadliest air disaster to involve a Caravelle and the deadliest air disaster in the history of the United Arab Emirates along with Gulf Air Flight 771 which also killed 112.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 was an international commercial flight scheduled from Beirut to Addis Ababa that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff from Rafic Hariri International Airport on 25 January 2010, killing all 90 people on board. This was the first fatal crash for Ethiopian Airlines since the hijack of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 in 1996.
On 2 July 1949 a Douglas DC-3 aircraft departed from Perth, Western Australia for a night flight of 441 nautical miles (817 km) to Carnarvon. The aircraft climbed to a height of about 500 feet (150 m) and then spiralled almost vertically to the ground, killing all 18 people on board. It crashed about a mile north of Perth airport and burned for over an hour. At the time, it was the worst civil aviation accident in Western Australia.
Indian Airlines Flight 171 was a Caravelle that crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Bombay Airport on 12 October 1976 after suffering an uncontained engine failure, killing all 95 people on board. Metal fatigue in the No. 2 engine's 10th stage high-pressure compressor disk had caused it to disintegrate, the resulting fragments severed fuel lines causing fuel to leak into the engine and ignite causing an uncontrolled fire that eventually affected control surfaces leading to a loss of control.
The 1986 Aerovías Guatemala air crash occurred on 18 January 1986 and involved a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III that crashed into a hill on approach to Santa Elena Airport, Flores, Guatemala after a short flight from Guatemala City's La Aurora International Airport. All 93 passengers and crew on board were killed, making it the worst air disaster in Guatemalan history.
Aeroflot Flight 1668 was a scheduled flight from Yakutsk to Novosibirsk with stopovers at Olekminsk, Lensk, Ust-Kut and Krasnoyarsk that crashed shortly after take-off from Olekminsk on 6 January 1968. All 45 people on board died. The subsequent investigation was unable to determine the root cause of the accident.
China Airlines Flight 825 was a scheduled China Airlines passenger flight from Taipei's Songshan Airport to Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong. On 20 November 1971, a Sud Aviation SE-210 operating this route disintegrated in midair over the Penghu islands, killing all 25 onboard.
The 1980 Riohacha Transportes Aéreos del Cesar Caravelle crash was a Colombian domestic flight that crashed on December 21, 1980. The flight, operating a Bogotá-Barranquilla-Valledupar-Riohacha-Medellín-Bogotá route, crashed at 2:23 p.m. local time, ten minutes after takeoff from Riohacha. All 70 occupants on board were killed, making the crash the deadliest in Colombia at the time, and the eighth-deadliest in Colombia today.
