Turbulence Accidents That Killed Airline Passengers

The following are a list of turbulence accidents since 1980 that killed one or more passengers on a jet airliner. Excluded are accidents involving jet airliners designed or built in the former Soviet Union.

1. 10 May 1980; Indian Airlines 737-200; near Rampur Hat, India: The aircraft experienced severe en route turbulence. Two of the 132 passengers were killed.

2. 7 October 1981; NLM CityHopper F28-4000; Moerdijk, Netherlands: Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft entered an area of severe thunderstorm activity. The aircraft apparently had a catastrophic in flight structural failure due to severe turbulence because it was seen to emerge from the clouds with one of its wings broken away. All four crew members and 13 passengers were killed.

3. 16 August 1982; China Airlines 747; near Hong Kong: The aircraft encountered severe in flight turbulence. Two of the 292 passengers were killed.

4. 3 October 1990; Eastern DC9-31; Florida, USA: The aircraft clear air turbulence at 31,000 feet (9450 m). One injured passenger died three weeks later.

5. 5 September 1996; Air France 747-400; near Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: Severe turbulence associated with a weather front seriously injured three of the 206 passengers. One of the three passengers later died of injuries caused by an in flight entertainment screen.

6. 28 December 1997; United Airlines 747-100; over Pacific Ocean near Japan: The aircraft encountered severe turbulence during cruise about two hours after departing Japan. One of the 346 passengers was killed. None of the 23 crew members were killed but three sustained serious injuries.

7. 12 November 2001; American Airlines A300-600; New York, NY: According to the NTSB, the aircraft encountered wake turbulence shortly after takeoff, and according to the NTSB, excessive and unnecessary control inputs from the flight crew led to a structural failure and a loss of control of the aircraft. All 251 passengers and nine crew members were killed. Five persons on the ground were also killed.

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