ll. Major Aircraft Disasters
The March 27,1977,Tenerife disaster remains the deadliest accident in aviation history with the highest number of airliner passenger fatalities. In this disaster, 583 people died when a KLM Boeing 747 attempted take-off and collided with a taxiing Pan Am 747 at Los Rodeos Airport.
Pilot error, communications problems, fog, and airfield congestion (due to bomb threat at another airport) all contributed to this catastrophe.
The crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 in 1985 is the single- aircraft disaster with the highest number of fatalities. In this crash, 520 died on board a Boeing 747.
The aircraft suffered an explosive decompression which destroyed its vertical stabilizer and severed hydraulic lines, making the 747 virtually uncontrollable.
The world's deadliest mid-air collision with the highest number of fatalities is the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision involving Saudia Flight 763 and Air Kazakhstan Flight 1907 over Haryana, India, in 1996. The crash was mainly the result of the Kazakh pilot flying lower than the altitude for which his aircraft was given clearance. 349 passengers and crew died from both aircraft. The Ramesh Chandra Lahoti Commission, empowered to study the causes, also recommended the creation of "air corridors" to prevent planes from flying in opposite directions at the same altitude.
The deadliest aviation-related disaster of any kind with the highest number of total fatalities, including fatalities on both the aircraft and the ground, was the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001, which occurred along with the intentional crashing of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175. 2,974 people were killed, mostly rescue workers and the occupants of the destroyed buildings.