Deadliest plane crashes' in history!

{image-Deadliest plane crashes_21082008.jpg news.oneindia.in}An aviation accident is roughly defined as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, in which a person is fatally or seriously injured, the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure and/or the aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible. An aviation incident is also defined as an occurrence other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft, which affects or could affect the safety of operations.

Since the birth of flight, aircraft have crashed, often with serious consequences. This is because of the unforgiving nature of flight, where a relatively insubstantial medium, air, supports a significant mass. Should this support fail, there is limited opportunity for a positive outcome. Because of this, aircraft design is concerned with minimizing the chance of failure, and pilots are trained with safety as a primary consideration. Despite this, accidents still occur, though statistically flying is the safest form of transportation. Nevertheless, while the odds of actually getting caught in a plane crash are nowadays distinctly low compared to other means of transportation, the chances of dying in such a disaster are notably higher.

Plane crashes with large numbers of casualties set in with the early passenger flights of the 1920s. The yearly death toll of plane crashes exceeded 100 for the first time in 1928, and 1,000 for the first time in 1943. Since 1945, the number of deaths has remained below 1,000 only twice, in 2004 and 2007 it proved an exception.

Approximately 80 per cent of all aviation accidents occur shortly before, after, or during takeoff or landing. Here is some of the deadliest plane crashes on takeoff.

Aug 20, 2008: Spanish airliner bound for the Canary Islands crashes, burns and breaks into pieces while trying to take off from Madrid's Barajas airport, killing 153 people on board.

May 5, 2007: Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 crashes shortly after takeoff from Douala, Cameroon, killing at least 114 people.

Sept 5, 2005: Mandala Airlines Boeing 737-200 crashes shortly after takeoff from Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia, killing at least 145.

Jan 3, 2004: Flash Airlines Boeing 737-300 crashes into the Red Sea after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, killing at least 148 people.

July 8, 2003: A Sudan Airways Boeing 737-200 crashes after taking off from Port Sudan leaving at least 115 dead.

May 4, 2002: EAS Airlines BAC 1-11 smashes into a crowded suburb of Kano, Nigeria shortly after takeoff; 154 people are killed from the plane and on the ground.

Nov 12, 2001: American Airlines Airbus A300 plunges to the ground after taking off from New York's JFK Airport, killing at least 265.

Oct 8, 2001: A Cessna 525A Citation and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) MD-87 collide in heavy fog during takeoff from Milan, Italy, leaving at least 118 dead.

July 25, 2000: The Air France Concorde crashes into a hotel after takeoff from Paris. It is the world's first Concorde crash leaving at least 113 dead.

Jan 30, 2000: Kenya Airways Airbus A310 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Abidjan, Ivory Coast; at least 169 die but at least 10 people survive.

Aug 16, 1987: A Northwest Airlines MD-82 crashes just after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport; at least 156 are reported dead.

May 9, 1987: A Polish IL-62M plunges into a forest near Warsaw; all 183 people on board are killed.

Dec 7, 1983: A Spanish jetliner gets lost in fog and taxis into a Boeing 727 that is accelerating prior to takeoff from Madrid's airport, setting off a fiery explosion that kills 93 people.

Nov 28, 1979: An Air New Zealand DC-10 crashes after takeoff into the icy slopes of Mt. Erebus, New Zealand; 257 are reported dead.

May 25, 1979: An engine drops off an American Airlines DC-10 during takeoff from O'Hare Airport in Chicago, killing at least 273.

Mar 27, 1977: A KLM 747 crashes into a Pan American 747 on the runway at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583.

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