IN PICS: The 30 DEADLIEST air disasters in history

Thousands of lives have been lost around the world in recent years owing to aircraft disasters.

While some of the mishaps have been blamed on inclement weather others have resulted out of mechanical failures or pilot failures or terror attacks.

More recently, a Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight with 239 people, including 5 Indians, on board was presumed to have crashed and the worst is feared. Intelligence agencies are also probing how four persons with fake identities boarded the aircraft and counter-terrorism agencies of other countries have been alerted about it.

The fate of the aircraft is still unknown.

Rediff.com takes a look at some of the disastrous air crashes.

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Tags: Malaysia Airlines , com

March 27, 1977

Image: 562 people died in the world's worst-ever air disaster when a KLM 747 jumbo jet collided with a Pan-Am 747 jumbo on the runway of Santa Cruz Airport, Tenerife.
Photographs: Central Press/Getty Images

Operator KLM Airlines

Fatalities 248

Crash location Tenerife, Spain

Cause of crash Misunderstanding between the tower and the aircraft led to it crashing into another aircraft.

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Tags: KLM Airlines , Tenerife , Spain

March 27, 1977

Image: 31st March 1977: Mass of wreckage on the runway at Santa Cruz airport, Tenerife after 747 Jumbo Jets belonging to Pan-Am and KLM collided.
Photographs: Central Press/Getty Images

Operator Pan Am

Fatalities 248

Crash location Tenerife, Spain

Cause of crash Misunderstanding between the tower and the aircraft led to it crashing into another aircraft.

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Tags: Pan Am , Tenerife , Spain

August 12, 1985

Image: The image illustrates the damage the aircraft sustained that led to its crash.
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons

Operator Japan Airlines

Fatalities 520

Crash location Tano District, Gunma, Japan

Cause of crash Rupture of the aft pressure bulkhead of the aircraft

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Tags: Operator Japan Airlines , Tano District , Gunma

November 12, 1996

Image: Firemen hoses down the smouldering wreckage of a Saudi Arabian Boeing 747 November 13 that crashed to earth outside the Indian village of Charkhi Dadri after colliding with a Kazakh Ilyushin IL-76 cargo.
Photographs: Reuters

Operator Kazakhstan Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines

Fatalities 349

Crash location Charkhi Dadri, west of New Delhi

Cause of crash Mid-air collision

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Tags: Saudi Arabian Airlines , Charkhi Dadri , Kazakhstan Airlines , New Delhi

March 3, 1974

Image: The site of the disaster at the Ermenonville frest near Paris
Photographs: Picture courtesy: turkishdc10/wordpress

Operator Turkish Airlines

Fatalities 346

Crash location Ermenonville frest, near Paris

Cause of crash Uncorrected known design flaw, that left the pilots without control

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Tags: Turkish Airlines , Paris , Ermenonville

June 23, 1985

Image: A door from the Air India jumbo jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean floats in the sea near Cork, Ireland.
Photographs: Reuters

Operator Air India Boeing 747, Emperor Kanishka

Fatalities 329

Crash location Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Ireland

Cause of crash Bomb explosion

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Tags: Air India Boeing , Kanishka , Atlantic Ocean , Ireland

August 19, 1980

Image: Charred remains of Saudia Flight 163
Photographs: Reuters

Operator Saudi Arabian Airlines

Fatalities 301

Crash location Runway at the Riyadh airport

Cause of crash Fire in the cargo compartment

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Tags: Arabian Airlines , Riyadh

July 3, 1988

Image: The downed Iran Air Flight 655

Operator Iran Air

Fatalities 290

Crash location over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf

Cause of crash Mistakenly shot down by the United States navy

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Tags: Iran Air , Persian Gulf , United States

February 19, 2003

Image: A Revolutionary Guard grieves over his dead c-orescue workers look on, on a near Kerman, in southeastern Iran.
Photographs: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters

Operator Iranian Revolutionary Guard

Fatalities 275

Crash location Mountains near Kerman, Iran

Cause of crash Bad weather and fog caused the aircraft to crash into mountains

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Tags: Iran , Kerman

May 25, 1979

Image: Flight 191 photographed moments before it crashed
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons

Operator American Airlines

Fatalities 271

Crash location Des Plaines, Illinois, United States

Cause of crash Loss of control after engine detachment, poor maintenance

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Tags: American Airlines , Des Plaines , United States , Illinois

September 1, 1983

Image: The wreckage of Korean Air Lines Flight 007

Operator Korean Air Lines

Fatalities 269

Crash location Near MoneronIsland, west of SakhalinIsland, Sea of Japan

Cause of crash Shot down by the Soviet air force

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Tags: Korean Air Lines , Sea of Japan , Soviet , SakhalinIsland

April 26, 1994

Image: China Airlines Flight 140 crash site
Photographs: Photo courtesy: lessonslearned.faa.gov

Operator China Airlines

Fatalities 264

Crash location Nagoya Airport, Japan

Cause of crash Stall caused by crew error

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Tags: China Airlines , Nagoya Airport , Japan

July 11, 1991

Image: Nigeria Airways 2120 crash site
Photographs: Photo courtesy: airdisaster.com

Operator Nigeria Airways

Fatalities 261

Crash location King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah

Cause of crash Under-inflated tyre caused a fire after take-off

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Tags: Abdul Aziz , Nigeria Airways , Jeddah , International Airport

November 12, 2001

Image: New York City firefighters in protective gear search the pit at the corner of Beach 131st street and Newport Street in the Rockaway Beach section of Queens, New York for human remains and evidence from the crash of American Airlines flight 587.
Photographs: Jim Bourg/Reuters

Operator American Airlines

Fatalities 260

Crash location Beach 131 Street, Queens, New York City

Cause of crash Tail structure failure due to overuse of rudder controls

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Tags: New York City , American Airlines , Queens

December 21, 1988

Image: Scottish rescue workers and crash investigators search the area around the cockpit of Pan Am flight 103 in a farmer's field east of Lockerbie, Scotland.
Photographs: Reuters

Operator Pan Am

Fatalities 259

Crash location Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Cause of crash Bombing

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Tags: Pan Am , Dumfries , Scotland , Lockerbie , Galloway

November 28, 1979

Image: Wreckage of Flight 901 on the slopes of Mount Erebus.
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons

Operator Air New Zealand

Fatalities 257

Crash location Mount Erebus, RossIsland, Antarctica

Cause of crash Aircrew was misdirected in their flight path

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Tags: Air New Zealand , Mount Erebus , Aircrew , RossIsland , Antarctica

December 12, 1985

Image: Wreckage from an Arrow Air DC-8 commercial aircraft is stored in a Gander Airport hangar for analysis by members of the Canadian Air Safety Board
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons

Operator Arrow Air

Fatalities 256

Crash location Gander, Newfoundland, Canada

Cause of crash Likely due to ice contamination on the wings

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Tags: Arrow Air , Gander , Newfoundland , Canada

September 26, 1997

Image: Rescue workers near the torn fuselage of the Garuda Airlines Airbus A300 which crashed into heavy jungle near Medan in Sumatra.
Photographs: Reuters

Operator Garuda

Fatalities 234

Crash location Ravine in the Sibolangit district south of Medan, Sumatra

Cause of crash Confusion by the air traffic controller

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Tags: Garuda , Sibolangit , Sumatra , Medan

July 17, 1996

Image: A large section of fuselage from TWA Flight 800 is lifted to shore from a navy barge August 3 at the Shinnecock Coast Guard station.
Photographs: Reuters

Operator TWA

Fatalities 230

Crash location Moriches Inlet ear East Moriches, New York

Cause of crash Fuel tank explosion, caused by electrical spark

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Tags: TWA , New York , Moriches Inlet , East Moriches

September 2, 1998

Image: The wreckage of Swissair Flight 111 is filmed by divers from the USS Grapple off the coast of Novia Scotia September 20
Photographs: Reuters/TV footage

Operator Swissair

Fatalities 229

Crash location In-flight fire leading to electrical failure

Cause of crash Atlantic Ocean, near St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada

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Tags: Nova Scotia , Atlantic Ocean , Canada

August 6, 1997

Image: The crash site of Korean Airlines flight 801 is seen in an aerial view of the Sasa Valley, Guam.
Photographs: Reuters

Operator Korean Air

Fatalities 228

Crash location Nimitz Hill, Guam

Cause of crash The captain failed to follow a normal non-precision approach

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Tags: Nimitz Hill , Guam

June 1, 2009

Image: A combination photo shows the Brazilian navy picking debris from Air France flight AF447 out of the Atlantic Ocean, some 745 miles (1,200 km) northeast of Recife, in these handout photos distributed by the navy in Recife, northeastern Brazil.
Photographs: Brazilian air force/Reuters

Operator Air France

Fatalities 228

Crash location Atlantic Ocean

Cause of crash Entered an irrecoverable aerodynamic stall and hit the ocean

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Tags: Air France , Atlantic Ocean

May 25, 2002

Image: Relatives hold photos of loved ones who were aboard China Airlines flight CI 611 which crashed into the sea on Saturday prepare to board a Taiwan navy transportation ship, to make their way to a traditional spirit-calling ceremony near the island of Penghu.
Photographs: Simon Kwong/Reuters

Operator China Airlines

Fatalities 225

Crash location Near the Penghu Islands above the Taiwan Strait

Cause of crash Disintegrated in mid-air

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Tags: China Airlines , Taiwan Strait , Penghu Islands

May 26, 1991

Image: The crash site

Operator Lauda Air, Thailand

Fatalities 223

Crash location Phu Toei National Park, Suphanburi Province, Thailand

Cause of crash Aircraft broke up in mid-air due to thrust reverser deployment

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Tags: Phu Toei National Park , Suphanburi Province , Lauda Air , Thailand , Aircraft

October 31, 1999

Image: Debris from EgyptAir Flight 990, that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean 60 miles south of Nantucket Island, sits on the deck of Coast Guard Cutter Reliance.
Photographs: Reuters

Operator EgyptAir

Fatalities 217

Crash location Atlantic Ocean

Cause of crash Believed to be a deliberate action by the captain, disputed.

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Tags: Atlantic Ocean , EgyptAir

January 1, 1978

Image: An image of the aircraft Ashoka at Paris-Orly Airport on January 1, 1976, two years before the accident.
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons

Operator Air India

Fatalities 213

Crash location Arabian Sea, near Mumbai

Cause of crash Irrational control inputs by the captain

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Tags: Air India , Arabian Sea , Mumbai