The disasters below include accidents, a bombing and military shootdowns; they are not all crashes in the same sense. They are arranged from fewer to more deaths so the final entry is the deadliest, counting victims on the ground where applicable.
Fatality figures can vary slightly between historical accounts, particularly when ground victims are included. The descriptions distinguish what happened from what investigators or authorities concluded, and treat those affected with respect.
5Saudia Flight 163
On 19 August 1980, Saudia Flight 163 developed an onboard fire shortly after departing Riyadh for Jeddah. The Lockheed L-1011 returned to Riyadh and landed, but evacuation was not initiated before smoke and fire incapacitated those aboard.
All 301 people aboard died. It is often included in lists of major aviation disasters, though describing it simply as a crash is imprecise: the aircraft had landed before the fatal fire.
