Boeing 747, Tenerife, Canary Islands, 1977

This tragedy occurred not in the air, but on the ground. And in some ways, that makes it even more frightening. Usually, we consider being on the runway to be one of the less scary parts of a flight. However, the following accident is considered to be the worst plane accident in the history of aviation.

In 1977, two Boeing 747 planes were on a runway in Tenerife. These two planes collided with each other on the runway. According to the airplane crash statistics, the most fatal accident in the history of commercial aviation was in 1977 when two Boeing 747s, a KLM flight 4805 and a Pan Am flight 1736, collided on a runway at Tenerife Airport. Could it have been this one? The accident occurred because the KLM flight was about to take off without permission. It was a foggy day and the plane crashed into the Pan Am aircraft. 583 people died in this accident.

American Airlines Flight 191, Chicago, Il, May 25, 1979

Here is another commuter accident that is considered to be one of the worst accidents in the history of the United States. American Airlines Flight 191 was preparing for takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Shortly after the aircraft lifted off of the runway, there was damage to one of the aircraft’s wings.

The wing became damaged because the engine detached. As the plane was in the air, it all of a sudden took a nosedive and crashed nose first into the ground at a 90-degree angle. The explosion was one huge fireball and the aircraft was engulfed in one it, killing 273 people and also two people who were on the ground.

Flight 163, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, August 19, 1980

On August 19, 1980, a Lockheed L-1011 took off into the air. A little bit after the takeoff, within about five minutes, the plane caught fire. The reason for the fire was unknown, but the people piloting the plane were able to land the plane during an emergency landing.

There was negligence on the part of the pilot on the plane because 301 passengers died and their deaths could have been prevented. The pilot of the plane had the doors closed on the plane the whole time, which meant that the passengers could not evacuate the plane and they were essentially trapped inside the plane and died of smoke inhalation.

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