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.
2Japan Airlines Flight 123
On 12 August 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123 lost control after a structural failure damaged its tail and hydraulic systems. The Boeing 747 crashed into mountainous terrain in Gunma Prefecture during a domestic flight from Tokyo to Osaka.
Of the 524 people aboard, 520 died and four survived. It remains the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history. Investigators linked the failure to an incorrectly repaired rear pressure bulkhead following an earlier tail strike.
