2002 Airline safety and security review

This review includes important safety or security related occurrences from 2002. There are two types of events in this review, numbered events and significant events. Numbered events must meet the following criteria:

  • There is at least one passenger fatality,
  • The flight was open to the general public, and
  • The aircraft was a large jet or turboprop driven model that is typically used in airline service.

Significant events are those that don't meet the criteria for a numbered event, but would likely be of interest to airline passengers and the aviation safety and security community. These events may include non-fatal airline accidents, events unrelated to an airline flight, hijackings, military actions, criminal activities, or acts of sabotage.

Definitions used by AirSafe.com

  1. 28 January 2002; TAME 727-100; near Tulcán, Ecuador: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Quito, Ecuador to near the border with Colombia. During descent into Tulcán, the aircraft crashed into the side of the Nevado el Cumbal Volcano at about the 14,700 foot level, about 1,400 feet (425 meters) below the summit. This volcano is in Colombian territory,

    The last aircraft transmission was a routine request for a landing clearance while the aircraft was flying at an altitude of 12,000 feet. During descent, the aircraft was traveling at about 50 knots higher than the recommended approach speed. All seven crew members and 87 passengers were killed.
    TAME plane crashes
    Boeing 727 plane crashes

  2. 12 February 2002; Iran Air Tours Tupolev 154M; outside Khorramabad, Iran:
    During descent, the aircraft hit Sefid Kouh mountain at about the 9,100 foot level (2773 meters). The crash site was about three nautical miles to the left of the extended runway centerline. There was rain, snow, and dense fog in the area at the time of the crash. All fifteen crew members and 105 passengers were killed.
    Fatal Iran Air Tours Events

    14 March 2002; Aerotaxi Antonov An-2; near Santa Clara, Cuba:
    The charted aircraft was on a flight from Cienfuegos to the island of Cayo Coco when it broke up in midair and crashed in central Cuba about 165 miles (265 km) east of Havana. The two crew members and 14 passengers were all killed. The An-2, first flown in 1947, is the world's largest biplane. More than 18,000 were built and several thousand remain in service around the world. The aircraft are not certified for commercial service in Canada or the United States.

  3. 15 April 2002; Air China 767-300ER; near Pusan, South Korea: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Beijing, China to Pusan, South Korea. The crew was attempting a second approach under conditions of reduced visibility, and crashed into a mountain about 2.5 nm (4.6 km) from the runway. Eight of the 11 crew members and 121 of the 155 passengers were killed.
    Air China plane crashes
    Boeing 767 plane crashes
    Plane crashes for airlines of Asia

  4. 4 May 2002; EAS Airlines BAC111; Lagos, Nigeria: This was a scheduled domestic flight from Kano to Lagos, Nigeria. The aircraft stalled shortly after takeoff and crashed in a residential area near the airport. Seven of the eight crew members 64 of the 69 passengers were killed, as were 78 people killed on the ground.
    Plane crashes for airlines of Africa

  5. 7 May 2002; China Northern MD82; near Dalian, China: This was a scheduled domestic flight from Beijing to Dalian, China. The aircraft crashed about 20 km (12.5 mi) off the coast of Dalian after the crew reported a fire in the cabin. Investigating authorities claimed that the fire was deliberately started by one of the passengers. All nine crew members and 103 passengers were killed.
    MD80 plane crashes
    Plane crashes for airlines of Asia
    Plane crashes for airlines of the PRC

  6. 7 May 2002; EgyptAir 737-500; near Tunis, Tunisia: The aircraft crashed about 6 km (3.8 mi) from the airport after a flight from Cairo. The aircraft was reportedly making a second approach for landing when it crashed into high ground during a period of reduced visibility due to fog and sandstorms. Three of the six crew members and 11 of the 56 passengers were killed.
    Boeing 737 plane crashes
    Plane crashes for airlines of the Middle East and Africa
    EgyptAir plane crashes

  7. 25 May 2002; China Airlines 747-200; near the Penghu Islands, Taiwan: The aircraft crashed into the sea about 20 minutes into a scheduled flight from Taipei to Hong Kong. The impact area was in the Taiwan Straits near the Penghu Islands about 75 km (47 mi) from the coast of Taiwan. Weather and flight conditions were normal, and no distress signal or other communication was received prior to the crash. The accident investigation concluded that the in-flight breakup was due to a structural failure in the aft lower lobe section of the fuselage. The investigation attributed this failure to an inadequate repair of tail strike damage that was sustained in 1980. All 19 crew members and 206 passengers were killed.

    The accident aircraft was the last 747-200 in passenger service with China Airlines and was to be sold to another carrier next month. According to Boeing, the aircraft was delivered to China Airlines in July 1979 and had accumulated approximately 21,180 landings and 64,394 flight hours. This nearly 22-year old aircraft was newer than similar models in the fleets of U.S. airlines. According to the FAA, the average age of Boeing 747-200 and 747-300 models in U.S. airline fleets at the time of this event was 24 years.

    This was the 26th fatal event involving the Boeing 747. The next most recent 747 event was an October 2000 Singapore Airlines accident in Taipei that killed 79 passengers and four crew members. There have been several fatal events involving in-flight breakups, including the 1996 event involving TWA Flight 800 and a November 2001 fatal event involving an American Airlines Airbus A300 over New York City.

    Previous in-flight breakups involving jet airliners have been due to varied causes, including a fuel tank explosion, severe weather or other atmospheric phenomena, bombs, missiles, and midair collisions.
    Boeing 747 plane crashes
    China Airlines plane crashes
    Plane crashes for airlines of Asia

    17 June 2002; U.S. Forest Service C130A; near Walker, CA: The aircraft, which was being used in a fire-fighting role, broke apart in flight while executing a fire retardant delivery near Walker, California. The wings of the aircraft separated from the fuselage near the wing roots just as the crew was finishing dumping its load of fire retardant. A fire ignited in the area of the separated wings as the fuselage plunged into the ground. The three flight crew members were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed. This aircraft, which had been originally manufactured in 1957, is a former U.S. Air Force aircraft that entered civilian service in 1988. The aircraft over 20,000 flight hours.
    Photo of aircraft after wing separation, plus related data
    Earlier photo of accident aircraft

  8. 1 July 2002; Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev 154; RA-85816; near Üeberlingen, Germany: The aircraft collided with a DHL 757 (A9C-DHL) while both aircraft were flying at about 36,000 feet (about 11,000 meters). Debris from both aircraft fell in an area near Lake Constance on the German-Swiss border. Both crew members on the DHL 757 and the 57 passengers and 12 crew members on the Tupolev 154 were killed. The 57 passengers on the Tupolev 154 included 52 children and teenagers. The 757 departed Bahrain and was continuing on to Brussels after a stop in Bergamo in northern Italy. The Tupolev 154 was on a trip from Moscow to Barcelona and had made a stopover in Munich shortly before the accident.
    Fatal midair collision crashes
    Plane crashes involving airlines from the Former Soviet Union
    Boeing 757 plane crashes

    1 July 2002; DHL 757; A9C-DHL; near Üeberlingen, Germany: The aircraft collided with a Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev 154 (RA-85816) while both aircraft were flying at about 36,000 feet (about 11,000 meters). Debris from both aircraft fell in an area near Lake Constance on the German-Swiss border. Both crew members on the DHL 757 and the 57 passengers and 12 crew members on the Tupolev 154 were killed. The 57 passengers on the Tupolev 154 included 52 children and teenagers. The 757 departed Bahrain and was continuing on to Brussels after a stop in Bergamo in northern Italy. The Tupolev 154 was on a trip from Moscow to Barcelona and had made a stopover in Munich shortly before the accident.
    Fatal midair collisions
    Plane crashes for airlines of the former Soviet Union

    18 July 2002; U.S. Forest Service Consolidated-Vultee P4Y; near Estes Park, CO: The aircraft, which was maneuvering to deliver fire retardant on the Big Elk wildfire northwest of Lyons, Colorado, lost control and crashed after the left wing separated in flight. The airplane had flown seven previous air attack missions on the fire that day. Prior to the accident mission, the airplane was loaded with approximately 2,000 gallons of fire retardant, and 550 gallons of fuel. The wings of the aircraft separated from the fuselage near the wing roots just as the crew was finishing dumping its load of fire retardant. According to a pilot in a following aircraft, there was a fire near the fuselage as the wing failed inboard of the number two engine. At the time of the accident, there was no turbulence in the area and Both flight crew members were killed in the crash. The NTSB is investigating this accident.

    19 August 2002; Russian military Mi-26 helicopter; Chechnya, Russia: The helicopter, which was designed for about 90 occupants, was carrying about 150 occupants and crashed near Grozny reportedly after being hit by a surface to air missile. At least 115 of the occupants were killed and 33 were injured. This was the greatest number of people to have ever been killed in a helicopter crash.

  9. 6 November 2002; Luxair Fokker 50 ; near Niederarven, Luxembourg: The aircraft was a scheduled flight from Berlin that crashed while on approach to the Luxembourg airport. There was fog in the area at the time of the crash. Two of the three crew members and 18 of the 19 passengers were killed.

  10. 11 November 2002; Laoag Air Fokker F27; Manila, Philippines: The aircraft crashed in Manila Bay about three minutes after taking off from Manila on a flight to Laoag City. The pilot reported an engine problem and attempted an emergency landing on land, but ended up ditching the aircraft in Manila Bay. The aircraft broke up and sank in water about 40-60 feet (12 to 18 meters) deep. One of the five crew members and 19 of the 34 passengers were killed.

Other Years
1996, 1997, 1998, 1999

2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
2005 , 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,

2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

Most recent crashes


Related information
Recent plane crashes
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Plane crash rates by model

2002 Airline safety and security review
http://airsafe.com/events/fatal02.htm -- Revised: 12 December 2017