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Fatal and Significant Airliner Events in 2006

These events include all jet passenger flights and turboprop accidents involving models with more than 10 passengers seats and which are used in airline service in North America and western Europe. All fatal events from 2006 are included, as well as other significant events that did not include passenger fatalities. Only the eight events that involved passenger deaths are numbered in the list on this page.

The audio and video links are to an AirSafe.com podcast that profiled the eight events from 2006, including four that resulted in the deaths of everyone on board. There was one event each in North America, Africa, and South America, three in Europe, and two in the Middle East. The eight fatal events of 2006 represents the lowest number of fatal events tracked by AirSafe.com in the last decade, a number also equaled in 2007 and 2003.

AirSafe.com Year in Review:Fatal Airline Events of 2006

Audio: MP3 | Video: iPod/MP4 | WMV | Google Video | YouTube

1. 3 May 2006; Armavia Airlines A320; near Sochi, Russia:
   The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Yerevan, Armenia to Sochi. At the time of the crash, visibility was limited due to darkness, a low overcast cloud layer, and light rain showers. The crew reportedly abandoned the first landing attempt due to the weather conditions. While the crew was maneuvering for a second landing attempt on a different runway, the aircraft crashed into the Black Sea about 6 km (3.8 miles) from the airport.
   All eight crew members and 105 passengers were killed.
   Fatal A320 Events
   Fatal Events for Airlines of the former Soviet Union

2. 9 July 2006; Sibir Airlines A310-300; Irkutsk, Russia: The aircraft was on a scheduled flight from Moscow to Irkutsk. Weather at Irkutsk included a low overcast, rain, and thunderstorms in the area. The aircraft landed on the runway, but was unable to stop on the runway. After departing the runway, the aircraft collided with a concrete structure, broke up, and caught fire.
   Five of the eight crew members, and 119 of the 195 passengers were killed.
   Fatal A310 Events

3. 10 July 2006; Pakistan International Airlines F27; Multan, Pakistan: Shortly after takeoff from Multan Airport on a scheduled domestic flight to Lahore, the aircraft reportedly experienced engine problems. The aircraft lost altitude, struck a power line and crashed in a field near the airport. All four crew members and 41 passengers were killed.

4. 22 August 2006; Pulkovo Airlines Tupolev 154M; near Donetsk, Ukraine: The aircraft departed on a scheduled domestic flight from Anapa to St. Petersburg. About 30 minutes after takeoff and at an altitude of about 36,000 feet (11,000 meters), the crew reported an emergency. Another transmission was reportedly received before the aircraft crashed. The crash occurred about 30 miles (48 km) north of the Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
   All 10 crew members and 160 passengers were killed.
   Fatal events involving airlines of the former Soviet Union

5. 27 August 2006; Delta Connection (Comair) CRJ-100; Lexington, KY: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Lexington, KY to Atlanta, GA. The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, about one half mile (800 m) from the end of the departure runway. The event occurred shortly before sunrise, and there was no reported precipitation at the time of the event. The aircraft took off on a shorter runway that is typically used by smaller private aircraft rather than the airport's main runway.
   Two of the three crew members and all 47 passengers were killed.
   Fatal events involving Delta Airlines
   Fatal events Canadair CRJ aircraft
   Fatal events with a sole survivor

6. 1 September 2006; Iran Air Tours Tupolev 154M; near Mashad, Iran: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Bandar Abbas to Mashad. After landing, the aircraft departed the runway and caught fire.
   All 11 crew members survived, but 28 of the 137 passengers were killed.
   Fatal events involving Iran Air and Iran Air Tours

7. 29 September 2006; Gol Linhas Aereas 737-800; near Peixoto de Azevedo, Brazil:
   The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Manaus to Brasilia when it had a midair collision in the area of São Félix do Xingu with an Embraer ERJ135 Legacy 600 executive jet operated by ExcelAire. The ExcelAire Legacy 600 jet had been on a flight from São José dos Campos to Manaus. After the collision, which damaged the left wing, left stabilizer, and left elevator of the executive jet, the crew of the damaged ExcelAire aircraft was able to land at a nearby military airfield at Cachimbo, Brazil. The 737 subsequently experienced an inflight breakup and crashed about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the Peixoto de Azevedo municipality. The Legacy 600 was on the first leg of a delivery flight to the U.S. The 737 aircraft was also relatively new, having come into service with the airline less than three weeks before the crash.
   
   All six crew members and 148 passengers on the 737 were killed. The two crew members and five passengers on the Legacy 600 were not injured.
   
   Fatal Events for Airlines of Latin America
   Fatal Events Involving the Boeing 737
   Fatal Events Involving Embraer Aircraft
   Fatal Events Involving a Midair Collision

   10 October 2006; Atlantic Airways BAe146; Stord, Norwa: The charted aircraft was on a non-scheduled domestic flight from Stavanger to Stord, Norway. After landing at Stord, the aircraft failed to stop on the 1200 meter (3900 foot) runway, overran the runway, continued down a rocky slope, and caught fire. One of the four crew members and four of the 12 passengers were killed.
   Since this was a corporate charter flight and not a flight open to the public, this is not a fatal even as defined by AirSafe.com and will not count toward the fatal event rate for this aircraft model.
   Fatal Events Involveing the BAe146

   11 October 2006; Cirrus SR-20; New York, NY: New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor Tyler Stanger were killed when their aircraft crashed into a 50-story building on the upper east side of Manhattan. There were no fatalities on the ground. Because this event did not cause a passenger fatality on an airliner, it is not counted as a fatal event as defined by AirSafe.com. This event is being treated as a major accident investigation by the NTSB, which is unusual for events involving a single private aircraft. It is likely that this treatment is due to the ongoing security concerns surrounding aircraft crashes into buildings in large U.S. cities.
   More Details on the Lidle Accident
   Celebrity Plane Crashes

8. 29 October 2006; ADC 737-200; Abuja, Nigeria: The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff on a scheduled domestic flight from Abuja to Sokoto. There was a storm in the area at the time of the crash. Four of the five crew members and 92 of the 100 passengers were killed. One person on the ground was also killed.
   Fatal Events Involving the Boeing 737

Related Pages
Recent Fatal Events Worldwide
Recent U.S. Fatal Events
Fatal Events by Airline
Accidents by U.S. Airline
U.S. Airline Fleets
Fatal Events by Model
Fatal Event Rates by Model
Accidents by Model