Boeing 747 hull losses
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A total of 46 Boeing 747 aircraft have been involved in accidents and incidents resulting in the complete destruction of the aircraft or it being declared as damaged beyond economical repair.[1] In many instances, these hull losses have been results of hostile actions, including terrorism, rather than any fault of the aircraft. Of the 45 aircraft losses, 19 resulted in no loss of life, one involved the murder of a hostage, while in another only a terrorist died.[1] Some of the aircraft declared damaged beyond economical repair were older members of the 747 fleet that sustained relatively minor damage that had they been newer would have resulted in them being repaired.[2][3]
[edit] Boeing 747 hull losses by year
[edit] 1970s - Air India, Imperial Iranian Air Force, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, KLM, Pan Am
[edit] 1970
The first hull loss of a Boeing 747 was as the result of terrorism. On 6 September 1970 an almost-new Pan American World Airways aircraft flying from Amsterdam to New York as Pan Am Flight 93 was hijacked and flown first to Beirut, then to Cairo. Shortly after the occupants were evacuated from the aircraft after arriving at Cairo, it was blown up.[4]
[edit] 1973
The second loss was very similar to the first. Japan Airlines Flight 404 was hijacked on a flight from Amsterdam to Anchorage, Alaska on 23 July 1973. It flew to Dubai, then Damascus, before ending its journey at Benina International Airport in Libya. The occupants were released and the aircraft was blown up. One of the hijackers was killed. [5]
[edit] 1974
The first crash of a 747 took place on 20 November 1974, when Lufthansa Flight 540 crashed moments after taking off from Nairobi, killing 59 people.
[edit] 1976
On 9 May 1976 a 747 freighter of the Imperial Iranian Air Force crashed near Madrid due to the structural failure of its left wing in flight. The accident investigation determined that a lightning strike caused an explosion in a fuel tank in the wing, leading to flutter and the separation of the wing; the seventeen occupants died.[6]
[edit] 1977
On 27 March 1977 the highest death toll in any aviation accident in history (as of June 2008) occurred when a KLM 747 collided with another 747 owned by Pan American World Airways in heavy fog at Tenerife Airport, resulting in 583 fatalities.[7]
[edit] 1978
Air India Flight 855 crashed into the sea off the coast of Mumbai (Bombay) on New Year's Day, 1978. All passengers and crew were killed. Many residents of seafront houses in Mumbai witnessed the disaster.
[edit] 1980s - Air India, Avianca, Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines, Pan Am, South African Airways, Flying Tigers
[edit] 1983
Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a 747-200B, was shot down just west of Sakhalin Island by the Soviet Air Force on 1 September 1983. All 269 passengers and crew aboard were killed.
Avianca Flight 011, a 747-200 flying from Paris to Bogotá via Madrid, crashed into a mountainside on 27 November 1983 due to a navigational error, killing 181 people. It was manoeuvring to land at Madrid Barajas International Airport.
[edit] 1985
An inadequate repair resulted in the loss of a 747SR (SR meaning Short Range) flying as Japan Airlines Flight 123 on 12 August 1985. Most of the aircraft's vertical stabilizer was blown apart while the aircraft was at cruising altitude, after the rear pressure bulkhead failed. The pilots kept it in the air for 32 minutes but it eventually crashed, causing 520 fatalities. As of March 2008 it is the worst single-aircraft disaster in aviation history.[8]
Air India Flight 182 was a 747-200B that exploded on 23 June 1985. All 329 on board were killed. Until the events of 11 September 2001, the Air India bombing was the single deadliest terrorist attack involving aircraft.
[edit] 1987
South African Airways Flight 295, a 747-200BSCD "Combi" en route from Taipei to Johannesburg on 28 November 1987, crashed into the ocean off Mauritius after an in-flight fire in the rear cargo hold resulted in loss of control and destruction of the aircraft. All 159 people on board were killed.
[edit] 1988
Pan Am Flight 103, a 747-100, disintegrated in mid-air on 21 December 1988 due to a terrorist bomb in the luggage hold; the wings, with their tanks full of fuel, landed on Lockerbie, Scotland. The 259 people on board were killed as well as 11 people in Lockerbie. A Libyan national was eventually convicted of destroying the aircraft.
[edit] 1989
On 19 February 1989, Flying Tiger Line Flight 66 was flying an Non-directional beacon (NDB) approach to Runway 33 at Subang International Airport, Kuala Lumpur, after having flown half an hour from the departure runway at Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore. During the approach, ATC radioed to the flight, "Tiger 66, descend two four zero zero [2,400 ft]. Cleared for NDB approach runway three three." The captain of Tiger 66 replied with, "Okay, four zero zero" (meaning 400 ft, which was 2,000 ft too low). Subsequent alarms triggered by the onboard Ground Proximity Warning System were ignored as false alarms, and the aircraft impacted a hillside at 600 ft above Sea level, killing all four people on board.[citation needed]
[edit] 1990s - British Airways, EL AL, Korean Air, China Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, and TWA
[edit] 1990
British Airways Flight 149 was a 747-100 flying from London Heathrow Airport in London to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Kuala Lumpur with a stopover in Kuwait. The aircraft landed at Kuwait International Airport on 1 August 1990, four hours after the Gulf War broke out. All 385 passengers and crew were taken hostage by Iraqi forces; one was murdered but the others were released. The aircraft was subsequently blown up.
[edit] 1992
El Al Flight 1862 was a 747-200F that crashed shortly after departure from Amsterdam Schiphol on 4 October 1992. Engines 3 and 4 detached after takeoff; as a result the flight crew lost control and the crippled 747 crashed into the Klein-Kluitberg apartments in Bijlmermeer at high speed. The sole passenger and all three crew were killed as well as 39 on the ground.
[edit] 1993
China Airlines flight 605 was a brand new 747-400 that attempted to land too far down the runway at the old Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong. The plane overshot the runway and landed in the harbor. All were evacuated safely, but the tail was blown off to avoid interfering with airport operations.
[edit] 1996
TWA Flight 800, a 747-100 bound for Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, exploded during its climb from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on 17 July 1996, killing all 230 people. A spark from a wire in the center fuel tank was the culprit, although several conspiracy theories have persisted. Changes in fuel tank management were adopted after the crash.
Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 763, a 747-100B, collided in midair over India with Air Kazakhstan Flight 1907, an Ilyushin Il-76 on 12 November 1996, killing all occupants of both aircraft. It is the most lethal mid-air collision in history.
[edit] 1997
Korean Air Flight 801, a 747-300, crashed into a hillside on 6 August 1997 while on approach to Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport on the island of Guam, killing all but 26 of its passengers.
[edit] 2000s - China Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Kalitta Air
[edit] 2000
Singapore Airlines Flight 006, a 747-400 flying from Singapore to Los Angeles via Taipei, crashed into construction equipment on 31 October 2000 while attempting to take off from a closed runway at Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport. It caught fire and was destroyed, killing 79 passengers and three crew members.[9]
[edit] 2002
China Airlines Flight 611, a 747-200B, broke apart mid-flight on 25 May 2002, en route to Hong Kong International Airport from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taipei. All on board lost their lives. Metal fatigue at the site of a previous repair was cited as a cause.
[edit] 2008
Kalitta Air plane, a 747-200F, broke into 3 parts when it overran runway 20 at Brussels Airport, Belgium on 25 May 2008, en route to Bahrain International Airport. The five crew members were uninjured. The cause of the incident is unknown.
[edit] References
- ^ a b List of Boeing 747 hull losses retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ Page describing N4723U incident retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ Page describing N808MC incident retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ Page describing N752PA incident retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ Page describing JA8109 incident retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ Page describing the crash of IIAF 5-8104 retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ "1977: Hundreds dead in Tenerife plane crash", "On This Day." BBC News. Retrieved: 26 May 2006.
- ^ "Japan marks air crash anniversary", BBC News. Retrieved: 12 August 2005.
- ^ "Rushing to Die, The Crash of Singapore Airlines flight 006", Airline Safety. Retrieved: 17 December 2007.
