10 Recent Worst Plane Crashes in History

1. GOL Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907

The Brazillian Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 crashed on Sept 29, 2006 while Traveling from Manaus to Rio de Janeiro. This Boeing 737 broke up after it collided with a business jet, Embraer Legacy 600, trying to take off in its opposite direction. Investigations revealed that it was human error on the part of the ATC controller who had given permission to the 737 to land and the business jet to take-off in the opposite directions on the same runway. The crash killed 154 people on board and left no survivors.

2. Air France Flight 447

On June 1, 2009 Air France Flight 447 mysteriously disappeared while en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Nearly 2 years later the wreckage of this Airbus 330 was recovered in the Atlantic Ocean. The main reason for the crash was attributed to pilot error in failing to control the aircraft after icing on the airspeed sensors disengaged the auto-pilot of the aircraft. The aircraft stalled and crashed in the Atlantic ocean, killing all 228 people on board.

3. Dana Air Flight 992

Dana air Flight 992 crashed into a building in Lagos while en route from Abuja to Lagos Nigeria after it experienced a dual-engine failure on June 3, 2012. In an attempt to crash land this McDonnell Douglas MD-83, the aircraft crashed and killed all 153 on board and 6 people on the ground.

4. Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-370

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-370 still remains as the greatest Aviation mystery to date. On Mar 8, 2014, the aircraft took off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people on board. It continued on for 40 minutes on its scheduled path before losing all contact from the Air traffic control. Though the satellite and military radars kept on detecting the flight for another 5 hours, there was no contact from the flight crew. As of today nothing substantial has been found on the reason of the crash.

5. Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down on 17 July 2014 while flying over eastern Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. This deadly crash has been attributed to malicious activity by the pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine, who mistook the aircraft for a Ukrainian bomber and shot it down using a 9M38 surface-to-air missile.

6. Air Algeria Flight 5017

Air Algeria Flight 5017 crashed 50 minutes after take-off after the captain reported technical difficulties. This McDonnell Douglas MD-83 crashed in Gossi, Mali while en route to Algiers, Algeria from Burkina Faso on July 24, 2014. The crash killed all 116 people on board. The main reason determined for the crash by the investigators has been Icing on the Engine sensors and the crew’s lack of reaction to the situation led the aircraft to stall and ultimately crash.

7. AirAsia Flight QZ8501

On December 28, 2014, while en route to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia, Air Asia Flight QZ8501 crashed in the Java sea, killing all 162 people on board. The main reason for the crash of this Airbus A320 has been attributed to the broken soldering of a critical flight control computer. The ensuing panic after the auto-pilot was disengaged because of the computer’s malfunctioning, caused a dispute between the pilot and the first officer, leading to the crash of the aircraft.

8. Germanwings Flight 9525

The Germanwings Flight 9525, Airbus A320 crash is a classic case of controlled flight into terrain by the psychic first officer, Andreas Lubitz. The crash occurred on March 24, 2015 while the plane was en route to Dusseldorf from Barcelona. Andreas was originally the first officer but locked the cockpit door and took charge of the controls when the Pilot went to the restroom. He then crashed the aircraft into the French Alps, killing all 150 on board.

9. Lion Air Flight 610

The Lion Air Flight 610 crash has been one of the most recent accidents due to technical failure. On 29 October 2018, this Boeing 737 MAX 8 en route from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang, crashed into the Java Sea 12 minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 passengers and crew. The initial investigation has revealed that erroneous readings from the Angle of Attack sensors caused the aircraft to go into stall recovery mode, from which the pilot could not control the aircraft.

10. Ethiopian Air Flight ET 302

The Ethiopian Air Flight ET 302 crash is very similar to the Lion air flight 610 crash. They were all Boeing 737 Max 8, and all crashed just few minutes after take-off. On March 10, 2019, this Boeing 737 MAX 8 en route from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Nairobi, Kenya crashed near the town of Bishoftu six minutes after takeoff, killing all 157 people aboard. The two incidents are being linked by experts as indicative of the errors within the MCAS (stall recovery) software on the 737 max. The crash has caused much criticism for Boeing, who have now grounded the entire global fleet of 737 Max.