Korean Air plane crashes

The following are significant events involving the airline or its subsidiares. The numbered events are those involving at least one airline passenger death where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role, and where at least one of the dead passengers was not a stowaway, hijacker, or saboteur. Only events since 1970 are included.

1. 20 April 1978; Korean Air Lines 707-300; near Kem, Soviet Union: The aircraft diverted from its planned course on a flight from Paris to Seoul and strayed over the Soviet Union. After being fired upon by an interceptor aircraft, the crew made a forced landing at night on the surface of a frozen lake. Two of the 97 passengers were killed by the hostile fire.

2. 19 November 1980; Korean Air Lines 747-200; Seoul, South Korea: The aircraft undershot its landing and impacted just short of the runway causing severe damage to the landing gear. The aircraft caught fire after it slid to a stop. Six of the 14 crew members and eight of the 198 passengers were killed. Also killed was one person on the ground.
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3. 1 September 1983; Korean Air Lines 747-200; near Sakhalin Island, Soviet Union: The aircraft was shot down by at least one Soviet air to air missile after the 747 had strayed into Soviet airspace. All 240 passengers and 29 crew were killed.
   International Committee for the Rescue of KAL 007 Survivors
   Boeing 747 plane crashes

4. 29 November 1987; Korean Air Lines 707-300; Andaman Sea near Burma: The investigating authorities concluded that the aircraft crashed after a bomb exploded in flight based on evidence from the wreckage and the statement of a passenger who left the aircraft after its previous flight. The 11 crew members and 104 passengers were all killed.

5. 27 July 1989; Korean AirDC10-30; Tripoli, Libya: The aircraft crashed about one mile (1.6 km) short of the airport during a daylight landing attempt in thick fog. Airport navigational equipment for an instrument landing on the intended runway were apparently not working at the time of the event. Four of the 18 crew members and 68 of the 181 passengers were killed. Six persons on the ground were also killed.

6. 25 November 1989; Korean Air F28-4000; Seoul, South Korea: The aircraft crashed immediately after takeoff as a result of a failure of the left engine. None of the six crew members and one of the 47 passengers was killed.

7. 6 August 1997; Korean Air 747-300; Agana, Guam USA: The aircraft crashed about three miles (4.8 km) short of the runway during a night time approach in heavy rain. Twenty one of the 23 crew members and 207 of the 231 passengers were killed.

   15 April 1999; Korean Air MD-11; Flight 6316; near Shanghai, China: Shortly after takeoff on a flight from Shanghai to Seoul, South Korea, with the aircraft about 4,500 feet above the ground, the crew mistakenly put the aircraft into an an abrupt descent and were unable to recover the aircraft before it struck a residential area about about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the airport. All three crew members were killed, as were five people on the ground.

   This plane crash was a cargo flight, and is not a fatal event as defined by AirSafe.com, but is included because of the seriousness of the event.
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