National Transportation Safety Board. (2004). In-Flight Separation of Vertical Stabilizer, American Airlines Flight 587, Airbus Industrie A300-605R, N14053 (NTSB/AAR-04/04). https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/AAR0404.pdf
The deadliest accident in aviation history happened on a foggy runway in the Canary Islands on March 27, 1977. Two Boeing 747s collided at Tenerife, and 583 people died. Several of the crashes below led to new rules, design fixes or changes in training.
This guide ranks the deadliest aviation accidents by lives lost, explains what investigators found in each, separates accidents from deliberate attacks and shootdowns, and puts them next to the latest industry safety data. "Worst" can mean the most deaths in one event or the most in one year, so we cover both.
Key Takeaways
The deadliest aviation accident on record is Tenerife in 1977, with 583 deaths. The second is Japan Airlines Flight 123 in 1985, with 520.
Most of the deadliest accidents were not caused by a single mistake. The FAA and investigators describe chains: a design weakness, a maintenance error, a crew decision, a missing safeguard.
Deliberate acts and shootdowns, such as the 1985 Air India bombing, are a separate category from accidents.
IATA counted 51 accidents among 38.7 million flights in 2025, eight of them fatal, with 394 onboard fatalities. That was the highest total in seven years, driven by two accidents.
The Deadliest Accidents on Record
This table ranks accidents, not deliberate acts, by total deaths, cross-checked against the investigation reports. Causes come from the investigators' findings as summarized by the FAA's Lessons Learned library and the NTSB, except Charkhi Dadri, which the FAA library doesn't cover and which rests on the Indian inquiry as reported by Indian and news sources.
Runway collision. The Spanish authority found that the KLM captain took off without clearance. Both aircraft had been diverted there after a bomb exploded at their destination airport.
An improperly executed repair of the aft pressure bulkhead, made several years earlier, led to fatigue cracking and a bulkhead rupture. Hydraulic power was lost and the aircraft became nearly uncontrollable. Four people survived.
Mid-air collision in cloud near Charkhi Dadri, west of Delhi. The Il-76 was descending to Delhi, the 747 was climbing out. India's Court of Inquiry, headed by Justice R.C. Lahoti, put the primary cause on the Il-76 crew not holding the altitude air traffic control had given them.
The aft cargo door came open in flight because its latch had been engaged incorrectly, which its design allowed. The depressurization collapsed the floor and damaged flight controls.
A fire in an aft cargo compartment burned through the cabin floor. The airplane landed, but no evacuation was started and everyone aboard was overcome by smoke and fire.
The left engine and pylon separated on takeoff, cutting hydraulic lines. The left wing stalled and the aircraft rolled and crashed inverted. 271 aboard and two on the ground died.
The vertical stabilizer separated in flight. The NTSB found the probable cause was the first officer's unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs, which loaded the tail beyond its ultimate design limit. It named the A300-600 rudder system design and elements of the airline's pilot training program as contributing. 260 aboard and five on the ground died.
The seven deadliest aviation accidents, by total deathsAccidents only; deliberate acts and shootdowns are listed separately below
583Tenerife 1977
520JAL 123 1985
349Charkhi Dadri 1996
346Turkish 981 1974
301Saudia 163 1980
273AA 191 1979
265AA 587 2001
Total deaths include people on the ground where reported. Sources: FAA Lessons Learned from Transport Airplane Accidents and NTSB.
Some of the largest losses of life in aviation were not accidents. Lists of deadly aircraft losses classify them separately from accidents, and so do we:
Deadliest airliner losses from bombings and missile strikes
Fatalities
Date
Flight
Cause as listed
329
June 23, 1985
Air India Flight 182, Boeing 747, Atlantic Ocean off Ireland
Korean Air Lines Flight 007, Boeing 747, Sea of Japan
Navigation error, then missile impact
What Changed After Each Crash
Tenerife. The Spanish investigators said the KLM captain took off without clearance, did not heed the tower's instruction to stand by, and replied emphatically that the Pan Am aircraft had left the runway when his flight engineer asked. They also noted that the captain's decision may have been influenced by newly enacted Dutch limits on crew duty time. The accident is a textbook case of how pressure to finish a flight can override warnings, a theme our get-there-itis guide covers.
Japan Airlines Flight 123. The airplane stayed in the air for about 30 minutes after the bulkhead failed, flying with no hydraulic pressure and most of its vertical fin gone. The root cause was an earlier repair that was not carried out correctly, and fatigue cracks that went undetected.
Saudia Flight 163. The FAA's review lists crew errors on the return to Riyadh and describes a new flame-penetration test method for cargo compartment liners, introduced as Amendment 25-60 to the airworthiness standards, with a matching change to the airline operating rules.
American Airlines Flight 191. The FAA's review notes that the airline's engine change procedure removed the engine and pylon together as one unit, using a forklift, a method the manufacturer's maintenance manual did not describe. The crew handled the failure as an ordinary engine failure, and slowed to a speed below the stall speed of the damaged wing.
American Airlines Flight 587. The NTSB determined that the first officer's large rudder inputs, made in response to wake turbulence from a preceding Boeing 747, caused the vertical stabilizer to separate. The jet that preceded it had taken off about 1 minute and 40 seconds earlier. For the physics of wake and control, see our guide to tail structures.
A flight data recorder. Recorders like this give investigators the evidence behind final reports.
What About the Worst Year?
There is no single official list of "worst years" that all sources agree on, because counts change with what is included: passenger airliners only, cargo flights, small aircraft, military flights, deliberate acts. The most reliable recent data comes from IATA, the airline trade association, which publishes an annual safety report. Its latest full-year report covers 2025:
IATA accident statistics, 2023 to 2025
Measure
2023
2024
2025
5-year average (2021 to 2025)
Accidents
42
54
51
44
Accident rate per million flights
1.16
1.42
1.32
1.27
Fatal accidents
1
7
8
6
Onboard fatalities
72
244
394
198
Fatality risk per million flights
0.03
0.06
0.17
0.12
Flights (millions)
36.1
37.9
38.7
34.5
IATA reports that 2025 had the highest fatality count in a seven-year period, and that two accidents accounted for more than half of the deaths: the January 29 mid-air collision with a helicopter near Washington, D.C., which killed 64 onboard and three others, and the June 12 crash at Ahmedabad, India, which killed 241 onboard and 19 others. In IATA's ten-year chart, the highest fatality risk was 0.22 per million flights in 2021. The accident rate fell from 1.61 per million flights in 2016 to 1.32 in 2025. IATA's definition of an accident was revised in 2023 and again in 2025, so its figures are not directly comparable with older editions.
For perspective on how rare these events are, 2025's 51 accidents came from 38.7 million flights.
An airport control tower.
Where to Go Next
Each of these accidents shows how a design, a procedure and a decision can line up badly. If you want to understand how modern airliners are built to survive failures, start with our guides to fuselage structures and electrical systems. The Boeing and Airbus cost guides cover the aircraft families involved in several of these accidents.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the worst aviation accident in history?
The 1977 Tenerife airport disaster, in which a KLM Boeing 747 collided with a Pan Am Boeing 747 on a runway in the Canary Islands. A total of 583 people died. The FAA's Lessons Learned library calls it the deadliest accident in aviation history.
What is the deadliest single-aircraft crash?
Japan Airlines Flight 123 on August 12, 1985, in which 520 of the 524 people aboard died. The root cause was an improperly executed repair to the aft pressure bulkhead.
What was the worst year for aviation accidents?
There is no single agreed list, because counts depend on what is included. IATA's recent data shows 2025 had the highest fatality count in seven years, with 394 onboard fatalities in 51 accidents, driven mainly by two accidents. In its ten-year chart the highest fatality risk was 2021.
What is the deadliest aviation accident on US soil?
Among accidents, American Airlines Flight 191 in 1979 killed 273 people including two on the ground, and American Airlines Flight 587 in 2001 killed 265 including five on the ground.
Is flying getting safer?
IATA reports that the all-accident rate fell from 1.61 accidents per million flights in 2016 to 1.32 in 2025. Its report notes that its definitions changed in 2023 and 2025.
Are bombings and shootdowns counted as accidents?
Not usually. Lists of deadly aircraft losses separate deliberate acts and shootdowns, for example the 1985 Air India bombing (329 deaths) and the 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 missile strike (298 deaths).
Keep PilotPassion in your Google results
Add us as a preferred source and we are more likely to appear in your Top Stories.
