After the second world war, passenger air travel quickly became much more common, thanks to improvements in technology and safety. Over the decades since, traveling by air has become much safer than traveling by car. Even so, many people have a fear of flying, in part because of the potential for catastrophic occurrences, no matter how rare they are. One of these is terrorism.
To find the deadliest commercial flight bombings, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the Aviation Safety Network’s database on sabotage and airplane bombs. Bombings are ranked by the number of fatalities. All other data included is from the database.
The ASN has tracked airplane bombings since 1949. In most incidents, all of the passengers are killed. In the early days of air travel, planes were bombed to gain life insurance money. Others were attempts by spouses to kill their partners with timebombs.
Political reasons became a primary motive for airplane bombings as the pace of air travel accelerated in the succeeding decades. Libyan terrorists were responsible for two of the four most lethal bombings on our list – Pan Am Flight N739PA that killed 270 people over Lockerbie, United Kingdom, in 1988, and UTA Flight N54629 that killed 170 people over the Ténéré desert, in Niger, in 1989.
Two Chechen suicide bombers succeeded in destroying two Russian Tupolev jets on the same day, Aug. 24, 2004. These bombings killed a combined 90 people. The attacks occurred during the Second Chechen War. (These are the countries hit hardest by terrorists.)
Another infamous attack that occurred in 1989 was the bombing of Avianca Flight HK-1803 that killed 107 people near Bogotá-Eldorado Airport in Colombia. Five years after the bombing, Dandeny Munoz-Mosquera, an assassin with the Medellin drug cartel, was convicted in connection with the attack. He allegedly had arranged to place the bomb aboard the aircraft to kill two informers who were cooperating with Colombian authorities. (These are 22 airports where the most gun incidents made the news this year.)
Click here to see the deadliest commercial flight bombings.
31. Aerolineas Abaroa Flight CP-639
> Fatalities: 17 (tied)
> Aircraft: Douglas C-47 (DC-3)
> Date: Dec. 8, 1964
> Location: near Milluni, Bolivia
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30. Bop Air, op.for Comair Flight ZS-LGP
> Fatalities: 17 (tied)
> Aircraft: Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante
> Date: March 1, 1988
> Location: Johannesburg International Airport, South Africa
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
29. Alas Chiricanas Flight HP-1202AC
> Fatalities: 21
> Aircraft: Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante
> Date: July 19, 1994
> Location: near Colon-Enrique Airport, Panama
28. Canadian Pacific Flight CF-CUA
> Fatalities: 23
> Aircraft: Douglas C-47 (DC-3)
> Date: Sept. 9, 1949
> Location: Sault-aux-Cochon, Canada
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27. Aeroflot, Ukraine Flight CCCP-42490
> Fatalities: 25 (tied)
> Aircraft: Tupolev Tu-104B
> Date: Oct. 10, 1971
> Location: near Moskva-Vnukovo Airport, Russia
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
26. China Airlines Flight B-1852
> Fatalities: 25 (tied)
> Aircraft: SE-210 Caravelle III
> Date: Nov. 21, 1971
> Location: near Penghu Island, Taiwan
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25. JAT Flight YU-AHT
> Fatalities: 27
> Aircraft: DC-9-32
> Date: Jan. 26, 1972
> Location: near Ceské Kamenice, Czech Republic
24/7 Wall St.
24. Aden Airways Flight VR-AAN
> Fatalities: 30
> Aircraft: Douglas R4D-1 (DC-3)
> Date: Nov. 22, 1966
> Location: Wadi Rabtah, Yemen
23. National Airlines Flight N8225H
> Fatalities: 34
> Aircraft: Douglas DC-6B
> Date: Jan. 6, 1960
> Location: near Bolivia, NC
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22. Philippine Air Lines Flight PI-C1022
> Fatalities: 36
> Aircraft: Hawker Siddeley HS-748
> Date: Apr. 21, 1970
> Location: near Cabanatuan, Philippines
21. United Airlines Flight N37559
> Fatalities: 44 (tied)
> Aircraft: Douglas DC-6B
> Date: Nov. 1, 1955
> Location: Longmont, CO
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20. Volga-Aviaexpress Flight RA-65080
> Fatalities: 44 (tied)
> Aircraft: Tupolev Tu-134A-3
> Date: Aug. 24, 2004
> Location: near Buchalki, Russia
24/7 Wall St.
19. Continental Air Lines Flight N70775
> Fatalities: 45
> Aircraft: Boeing 707-124
> Date: May 22, 1962
> Location: near Unionville, MO
18. Sibir Airlines Flight RA-85556
> Fatalities: 46
> Aircraft: Tupolev Tu-154B-2
> Date: Aug. 24, 2004
> Location: near Gluboki, Russia
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17. Swissair Flight HB-ICD
> Fatalities: 47
> Aircraft: Convair CV-990
> Date: Feb. 21, 1970
> Location: near Würenlingen, Switzerland
16. Canadian Pacific Flight CF-CUQ
> Fatalities: 52
> Aircraft: Douglas DC-6B
> Date: July 8, 1965
> Location: near 100 Mile House, Canada
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
15. Air Vietnam Flight XV-NUI
> Fatalities: 58
> Aircraft: Douglas C-54D (DC-4)
> Date: March 19, 1973
> Location: near Buon Me Thuot, Vietnam
14. BEA, opf Cyprus Airways Flight G-ARCO
> Fatalities: 66
> Aircraft: DH-106 Comet 4
> Date: Oct. 12, 1967
> Location: near Demre, Turkey
13. Cubana Flight CU-T1201
> Fatalities: 73
> Aircraft: Douglas DC-8-43
> Date: Oct. 6, 1976
> Location: near Bridgetown International Airport, Barbados
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
12. Air France Flight F-BHBM
> Fatalities: 78
> Aircraft: Lockheed L-1649A Starliner
> Date: May 10, 1961
> Location: near Edjele, Algeria
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
11. Cathay Pacific Flight VR-HFZ
> Fatalities: 81 (tied)
> Aircraft: Convair CV-880
> Date: June 15, 1972
> Location: near Pleiku, Vietnam
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
10. Aeroflot, East Siberia Flight CCCP-42379
> Fatalities: 81 (tied)
> Aircraft: Tupolev Tu-104B
> Date: May 18, 1973
> Location: near Chita, Russia
24/7 Wall St.
9. MEA Flight OD-AFT
> Fatalities: 81 (tied)
> Aircraft: Boeing 720-023B
> Date: Jan. 1, 1976
> Location: near Al Qaysumah, Saudi Arabia
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
8. TWA Flight N8734
> Fatalities: 88
> Aircraft: Boeing 707-331B
> Date: Sept. 8, 1974
> Location: near Cephalonia, Greece
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7. Avianca Flight HK-1803
> Fatalities: 107
> Aircraft: Boeing 727-21
> Date: Nov. 27,1989
> Location: near Bogotá-Eldorado Airport, Colombia
6. Gulf Air Flight A4O-BK
> Fatalities: 112
> Aircraft: Boeing 737-2P6
> Date: Sept. 23, 1983
> Location: Mino Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
5. Korean Air Flight HL7406
> Fatalities: 115
> Aircraft: Boeing 707-3B5C
> Date: Nov. 29, 1987
> Location: near Tavoy, Myanmar
24/7 Wall St.
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
4. UTA Flight N54629
> Fatalities: 170
> Aircraft: DC-10-30
> Date: Sept. 19, 1989
> Location: Ténéré desert, Niger
3. Metrojet Flight EI-ETJ
> Fatalities: 224
> Aircraft: Airbus A321-231
> Date: Oct. 31, 2015
> Location: near Hasna, North Sinai, Egypt
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2. Pan Am Flight N739PA
> Fatalities: 270
> Aircraft: Boeing 747-121A
> Date: Dec. 21, 1988
> Location: Lockerbie, United Kingdom
1. Air-India Flight VT-EFO
> Fatalities: 329
> Aircraft: Boeing 747-237B
> Date: June 23, 1985
> Location: near Cork, Ireland
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