Over the past decade, the world has witnessed a series of devastating aviation tragedies that have claimed thousands of lives and left an indelible mark on global aviation safety. From mechanical failures and extreme weather to human error and geopolitical conflict, these air disasters have caused immense grief to families worldwide. AFP/AP
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Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8 bound for London, crashed minutes after takeoff on June 13, 2025 in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. Images captured both the plane’s last moments and the horror of the crash site, with rescuers picking through smoking debris as they searched for survivors. The Air India plane crash was one of India’s worst aviation disasters, killing 241 people on board and several people on the ground.
AFP
2/13
Pieces of American Airlines flight 5342 recovered from the Potomac River are brought to shore during recovery efforts on February 05, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. An American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas collided midair with a military Black Hawk helicopter while on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on January 29, 2025 outside of Washington, DC.
AFP
3/13
The scene where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft crashed and burst into flames is seen at Muan International Airport in Muan, some 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul on December 30, 2024. The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it crashed on arrival on December 29, killing everyone aboard -- save two flight attendants pulled from the twisted wreckage of the worst aviation disaster on South Korean soil.
AFP
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A drone view shows emergency specialists working at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan December 25, 2024. Azerbaijan Airlines international flight J2-8243, an Embraer crashed December 25, 2024 after being diverted from Russia to Kazakhstan, killing 38 people.
AP
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Japan Airlines plane on fire on a runway of Tokyo's Haneda Airport on January 2, 2024. As Japan Airlines Flight 516 was landing, it collided with the Coast Guard plane, immediately igniting fires that destroyed both aircraft. Five of the six crew on board the Dash 8 died in the collision, with only the captain surviving. Everyone on board the A350 survived.
AFP
6/13
Emergency workers using sniff dogs to conduct search for the black box near the debris at the China Eastern flight crash site in Tengxian County in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft flying from Kunming to Guangzhou crashed into a mountainous area in Tengxian County in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region at 2:38 p.m. on March 21, 2022 killing all 132 people on board - 123 passengers and nine crew members.
AP
7/13
General view of the debris of the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, Boeing 737-800 plane that was mistakenly shot down by Iranian air defence in January 2020. The Ukrainian airliner crashed outside Tehran, killing over 170 people.
AP
8/13
An Air India Express passenger plane from Dubai crashed at an airport in the southern state of Kerala on August 7, 2020, killing 18 people, according to officials. The Boeing 737, en route from Dubai, skidded off the runway in rain and broke in two after landing at Calicut (Karipur, Kozhikode) airport, aviation officials said.
ANI
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A Boeing 737-MAX 8 Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed on March 19, 2019 minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa for Nairobi, killing all 157 people on board. Soon after, the Boeing 737 MAX global fleet was grounded over safety concerns.
AFP
10/13
Family members of the crashed Indonesian Lion Air JT-610 react at Pangkal Pinang airport, in Bangka Belitung province on October 29, 2018. An Indonesian Lion Air plane carrying 188 passengers and crew crashed into the sea on October 29, 2018, officials said, moments after it had asked to be allowed to return to Jakarta.
AFP
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More than 250 people are feared dead after an Algerian military plane crashed soon after takeoff. The plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Boufarik air base, between Algiers and the city of Blida on April 11, 2018.
AFP
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Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 departed from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, and was shot down over eastern Ukraine as fighting raged between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces. All 298 passengers on board were killed.
AFP
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Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. The remains of the Boeing 777 and the 239 people have not been found.