The Worst Commercial Aviation Accidents in Recent Years
On Thursday, 2025 saw its second air tragedy. An Air India flight bound for London crashed minutes after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad, with 242 people on board. Authorities confirmed multiple fatalities, making this disaster the deadliest in the world in the past decade.
Major Recent Aviation Accidents
Below is a review of the most serious aviation incidents in recent years, along with their key details.
2025
United States
On January 29, more than 60 people died when a regional American Airlines aircraft collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. The impact occurred near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, causing the plane to plunge into the icy Potomac River.
2024
South Korea
South Korea experienced its worst aviation disaster on domestic soil. Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 crashed on December 29 at Muan International Airport. All 175 passengers and four of the six crew members perished.
Kazakhstan
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243, an Embraer E190, crashed on December 25 after being diverted from Russia to Kazakhstan. The accident left 38 dead. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that the plane was accidentally hit by ground fire in Russia, though Moscow has not confirmed this claim.
Japan
On January 2, a Japan Airlines Airbus A350-900 collided with a Coast Guard aircraft on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. All 379 passengers on the commercial flight escaped the burning plane, but five of the six crew members on the smaller aircraft died.
→ Why an IndiGo Flight Had to Fly Through a Storm Without Being Able to Divert
2022
China
On March 21, a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 plunged into a mountainous area in Guangxi, southwestern China. All 132 people on board lost their lives, marking the deadliest aviation accident in China in 28 years.
2020
Iran
On January 8, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard mistakenly shot down a Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 shortly after takeoff from Tehran. All 176 people on board died. A misaligned radar and human error in air defense were cited as causes by Iran’s civil aviation authority.
2019
Ethiopia
On March 19, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi. All 157 people on board died. Following this incident, the global operation of the Boeing 737 MAX fleet was suspended for safety reasons.
2018
Indonesia
On October 29, a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta. All 189 people on board died. This accident was one of the triggers for global scrutiny of the MAX model’s safety.
2014
Malaysia
The year 2014 saw two tragedies involving Malaysia Airlines. Flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down on July 17 over eastern Ukraine, an area of conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces. All 298 passengers died.
On March 8, Flight MH370 disappeared during its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. No trace of the Boeing 777 or the 239 people on board was ever found.
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Plataforma Informativa de Aviación Comercial con 13 años de trayectoria.