As of 2026-10-12, Tenerife airport disaster tops the list with 583 deaths.
- #1 Tenerife airport disaster — 583 deaths
runway collision at Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife, 1977-03-27
On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on a runway at Los Rodeos Airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife, killing 583 people and injuring 61 others in the deadliest accident in aviation history. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #2 Japan Air Lines Flight 123 — 520 deaths
1985 aviation accident in Japan
Japan Air Lines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Tokyo to Osaka, Japan. On the evening of Monday, August 12, 1985, the Boeing 747 flying the route suffered a severe structural failure and explosive decompression 12 minutes after takeoff. After flying under minimal control for 32 minutes, the plane crashed in the area of Mount Takamagahara, 100 kilometres from Tokyo. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #3 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision — 349 deaths
aviation accident
On 12 November 1996, Saudia Flight 763, a Boeing 747-100 en route from Delhi, India to Jeddah with a stopover in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907, an Ilyushin Il-76 en route from Shymkent, Kazakhstan to Delhi, collided over the city of Charkhi Dadri in the state of Haryana, around 100 kilometres west of Delhi. The crash killed all 349 people on board both planes, making it the world's deadliest mid-air collision, the deadliest aviation accident without survivors, and... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #4 Turkish Airlines Flight 981 — 346 deaths
1974 aviation accident in France
Turkish Airlines Flight 981 was a scheduled flight from Istanbul Yeşilköy Airport to London Heathrow Airport, with an intermediate stop at Orly Airport in Paris. On 3 March 1974, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating the flight crashed into the Ermenonville Forest, about 40 kilometres outside Paris, killing all 335 passengers and 11 crew. The crash was also known as the Ermenonville air disaster. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #5 Pan Am N736PA — 335 deaths
aircraft in aviation accident
source Wikidata - #6 Saudia Flight 163 — 301 deaths
aviation accident
Saudia Flight 163 was a scheduled Saudia passenger flight departing from Quaid-e-Azam Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, bound for Kandara Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, via then-Riyadh International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which caught fire after takeoff on 19 August 1980. Although the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar made a successful emergency landing at Riyadh, the flight crew failed to perform an emergency evacuation of the airplane, leading to the deaths of all 287 passengers and 14 crew on... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #7 1996 Air Africa crash — 298 deaths
aviation accident
On 8 January 1996, a Moscow Airways Antonov An-32B operating on behalf of Air Africa overran the runway at N'Dolo Airport after attempting to take off overloaded. The aircraft was flying from Kinshasa to Kahemba, Zaire. The aircraft ploughed into Kinshasa's Simbazikita street market. Four of the six crew of the aircraft survived the accident. On the ground, however, it is estimated that there were between 225 and 348 fatalities, with more than 500 people injured. It was the deadliest aviation... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #8 Iran Air Flight 655 shootdown — 290 deaths
1988 airliner shootdown
Iran Air Flight 655 was an international scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas that was shot down on 3 July 1988 by two surface-to-air missiles fired by USS Vincennes, a United States Navy warship. The missiles hit the Iran Air aircraft, an Airbus A300, while it was flying its usual route over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, shortly after the flight departed its stopover location, Bandar Abbas International Airport. All 290 people on board were... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #9 2003 Iran Ilyushin Il-76 crash — 275 deaths
aviation accident
On 19 February 2003, an Ilyushin Il-76 crashed in mountainous terrain near Kerman in Iran. The Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aircraft, registration 15-2280, was flying from Zahedan to Kerman when it crashed 35 kilometres southeast of Kerman. The aircraft was carrying members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, a special force that is independent from the Iranian Army, on an unknown mission. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #10 American Airlines Flight 191 — 273 deaths
1979 aviation accident in Chicago, Illinois, United States
American Airlines Flight 191 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago to Los Angeles International Airport. On the afternoon of May 25, 1979, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating this flight was taking off from then-existing runway 32R at O'Hare International when its left engine detached from the wing, causing a loss of control. The aircraft crashed about 4,600 feet (1,400 m) from the end of runway 32R. All 271 occupants on board were... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata