World's major air disasters

An Indian sand artist gives final touches on a sand sculpture with a message of prayers for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 - which vanished from radar early on March 8 somewhere at sea between Malaysia and Vietnam - at Puri beach, some 65 kilometers away from Bhubaneswar yesterday. Photo: Star

1985- August 12: A Boeing 747 belonging to Japan Airlines and flying from Tokyo to Osaka crashes into a mountainside, killing 520 people, the world's second-worst air disaster.
1977- March 27: Two Boeing 747s collide on the runway at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people, the world's worst air disaster.
1996- November 12: A Saudi Airlines Boeing 747 passenger plane and a Kazakh Ilyushin 76 transport jet collide in mid-air over Charkhi Dadri in northern India, killing 349 people, the world's third worst air disaster.
2001- November 12: An American Airlines Airbus A300 crashes in the New York borough of Queens shortly after taking off, killing all 260 on board and five people on the ground.
2002- May 25: A China Airlines Boeing 747 crashes 50 kilometres off Taiwan, killing 225.
2003- February 19: An Iranian military Ilyushin 76MD crashes in the Sirach Mountains, killing all 275 members of the Revolutionary Guard on board.
2009- June 1: An Air France Airbus A330 crashes in the sea between Brazil and France, killing all 228 on board.

Sources: AFP reports,
Aviation Safety Network website