The World’s Most Dangerous Aircrafts Still In Operation

Recent studies show that air transport has become safer since the decade of the last century. The aircraft models involved in fatal fatal accidents are followed, along with new safety procedures, manufacturing materials and more advanced manufacturing methods, safety equipment and training activities, all combined to make air transport safer for us. However, there are still jet aircraft that have encountered many “problems” in the past and are still in use till date. The following are the “most dangerous” names based on the number of accidents and related incidents and the number of casualties:

Tupolev Tu-154 :

Narrow body, short-range – Middle 
Produced by Tupolev, Russia
Produced since 1972
Number of production 1026 units 
Stopped production in 2013
10 units are still in operation (2018) 
30% survival rate on the total number of accidents and incidents.

The Tu-154 is considered workhorse of Soviet aviation and now Russia. The current Tu-154 is a narrow-body jet that has three rare engines designed to carry passengers. It made its first flight nearly 50 years ago and began operating in 1972 by Aeroflot, which is now the national airline of Russia. The Tu-154 has a durable design that can operate in harsh environments with minimal maintenance costs. Tu-154 has a maximum capacity of 180 passengers, maximum speed of 975 km / h and a range of nearly 5300 km.

The aircraft was produced from 1968 to 2013 in quantities of up to 1026 with nearly ten civilian to military variants. Currently the Tu-154 is still in limited use, Aeroflot has removed its Tu-154 from its fleet, now only Korea’s Air Koryo with two aircraft and Alrosa is the last Russian airline to use the aircraft.

During its operation, the Tu-154 amassed 111 accidents and incidents, of which 70 were complete hull-loss, with up to 3078 people killed. In the latest accident in late 2016, a Tu-154 of the Russian defense ministry crashed in the Black Sea after taking off from Sochi airport as 92 people including 64 employees of Alexandrov’s choir. Russian Air Force died. In addition, the most famous incident involving the Tu-154 was a plane carrying Polish President – Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and senior Polish officials crashed as they prepared to land at North Smolensk Airport. causing all 96 people on board to die (photo above).

Ilyushin IL-62:

Narrow body, long range
Produced by Kazan Aircraft Production Association (KAPO), Russia 
Produced since 1967
Production quantity 292 units 
Production stopped in 1995 
6 units are still in operation (2018) 
23.3% survival rate of the total number of accidents and trouble.

IL-62 personally is still one of Ilyushin’s design masterpieces because in the 60s of the last century, the jet-blooming period. IL-62 seemed to be separated from the crowd with the Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8, not only with the design of four T-jet engines behind the T-tail but also its huge size, once regarded as the world’s largest commercial jet at that moment. Another aircraft designed with four IL-62-like rear-mounted engines, the British Vickers VC10, wasn’t as popular.

IL-62 has been operated by airlines of 30 countries, mainly allies of the Soviet Union and some Western countries in the form of sublease. The IL-62M variant is also the longest-running long-range jet engine in the world with each having an average age of more than 32 years. So far, only North Korean airline Air Koryo has operated IL-62 as a passenger plane (pictured above), most of the remaining IL-62s have been converted to military service planes in some countries like Gambia, Russia and Sudan.

The IL-62 series had the same operating time as the Boeing 737 but with a much smaller number of aircraft produced and operated, there were 26 “only” related accidents, but there were 23 hull-loss cases. , killing a total of 1086 people. Among IL-62-related accidents, the most notable is the 1980s Cubana de Aviacion catastrophic crash when it took off at Havana-Jose Marti airport due to bad weather, causing the death of 126 people on-board and 24 people on the ground. Only a 22-year-old passenger survived the collision but died eight days later due to a serious injury. The latest crash was from Iranian airline Aria Air in 2009. The IL-62M (pictured) deflected the runway due to a pilot error of casualty figures was 11/17 crew members and 5/156 passengers.

Boeing 737:

Narrow, short-range – Central
Made by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, USA
Produced since 1967
Production of 10,162 units (as of June 2018)
Still producing
7310 units are still in operation (2018)
Survival rate of 34.6% of the total number of accidents and incidents.

The Boeing 737 is the world’s most popular short-mid-range narrow-body aircraft. This aircraft was put into operation in 1968 and so far has passed many generations, many upgrades. The latest generation of Boeing 737 is the MAX, standard is MAX 8, the largest is MAX 10 with carrying capacity up to 230 passengers, using new fuel-efficient engine as well as being upgraded with new technologies. With this popularity, the 737 is also the series with the most accidents with a total of 465 accidents and incidents, including 211 hull-loss incidents.

Including the latest crash of Boeing 737 MAX 8 airline of Ethiopian Airlines on sunday, since it began operation to date, Boeing 737 is also the plane with the highest accident rate, causing total death. 4711 people and if you include other incidents like hijackers, the total number of deaths related to 737 is up to 5386 people.

In fact, most accidents involving 737 older models such as model 737-200 accounted for 218 cases, 122 hull-loss cases killed 2704 people. 737-200 belongs to the first generation (Original) model, started operation since 1967 by United Airlines and many airlines around the world still operate this model of aircraft more than 50 years old, mostly airlines in Africa, Central South America countries and some small Canadian and American airlines. The latest accident involving 737-200 is 737-201 Advanced Cubana de Aviacion airline which crashed due to bad take-off by pilots, killing 113 people, in May 2018 The 737 plane involved in this accident was produced in 1979.

In addition, the 737-800 series also encountered many incidents and accidents but the most famous is still an aerial collision between an Embraer Legacy 600 and a Boeing 737-8EH of Gol Transportes Aereos in Brazil in September. 2006 (above photo). The wingtip of the Legacy 600 cut into the main wing of the 737-8EH, causing the plane to break most of the left wing, losing control and killing 154 people, and the Legacy 600 landed safely. More tragically and more recently, Air India Express’s 737-8HG failed to land at Mangalore-Bajpe airport, killing 158/166 people on board. However, most of the cases that killed many people related to 737 were caused by human error, possibly pilots or air traffic control.

Boeing 727 :

Narrow, short-range body 
Made by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, USA 
Produced since 1964
Production volume 1832 
1984 Production stop 
44 units still in operation (2018) 
16.1% survival rate on total number of accidents and incidents.

The 727 is also one of Boeing’s iconic airplanes and is also the only aircraft of the airline to be equipped with three rear-mounted engines (trijet) similar to the Tu-154. At that time the three-engine design was operated by many companies with extremely classic names such as Britain’s Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, Hawker Siddley Trident or the DC-10 line carrying the famous “cargo door” bug. McDonnell Douglas.

The 727 series was developed in the early 60s of the last century with the ability to carry up to 189 passengers on short to medium routes. 3 Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines – the same type installed on the 737-100 / 200 series are mounted below the characteristic T-shaped tail wings, 2 twin-sides and 1 unit attached to the body. 727 was very popular when it was operated by airlines in many continents, in which Air Vietnam – the first airline of the Republic of Vietnam operated in 1965 and also JAT Yugoslav – the national airline of The former Yugoslavia, now Air Serbia, is operating.

The 727-200 of Canadian Airways having problems in Congo, fortunately, no casualties.
The 727 is now only used for services such as transportation or personal aircraft, but during the operation, there were 349 accidents and incidents involving 727 including 119 hull-loss . The most recent fatal accident was the 727-223 Union des Transports Africains de Guinee, which crashed when it took off at Cotonou Airport, Benin in 2003, killing all 163 people on board. The cause of this accident was because the aircraft was overloaded, the pilot could not reach the speed of taking off when he had rolled to the end of the runway, at the end of the runway, the 727 crashed into the antenna column, plunging into the concrete wall and exploded. In 2011, an Iranian 727-286 also crashed due to bad weather and old aircraft, leaving 78/105 people killed

McDonnell Douglas DC-9 / MD-80s:

narrow, short – mid
Produced by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Commercial Airplanes), USA 
Produced since 1980
Production numbers 1191 units 
Production stopped in 1999 
298 units are still in operation (2018) 
25.5% survival rate out of total accidents and incidents.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 or the upgraded DC-9 line was also one of the company’s very famous aircraft before it was bought and developed by Boeing to become Boeing 717. The original DC-9 was developed by Douglas Aircraft in the 1960s with the design of two very special engines along with the T-tail. Later when merging with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967, by 1970, the DC-9 was upgraded and changed its name to MD-80 with many variations. , the largest is MD-90. The plane is very popular with American airlines but it is also one of the most dangerous aircraft of the time, with 279 accidents and incidents of 148 hull-loss, killing more than 3758. people.

The most famous crash of this aircraft was in 1987 in Detroit, Northwest Airlines MD-82 crashed while taking off as 155 people on board and 2 people on the ground were killed (photo above). The incident was caused by the pilot’s fault when setting up the rear flaps and the aerodynamic brakes in the wrong position when taking off, as well as the warning system not alerting the pilot. Another well-known case is that Swissair’s MD-82 caught fire right in the air due to electric shock from the first-class entertainment system. Also from this incident mylar insulation material became prohibited from being used on aircraft. 229 people were killed and notably the Le Peintre painting by Pablo Picasso was burnt on the plane.

The MD-80s are also known for engine faults, recently in 2012, the MD-83 of Dana Air, Nigeria crashed while trying to reach the runway causing the death of 153 people on board and 6 people on the ground. and recently, Air Algerie’s accident in 2014 killed 116 people while traveling from Burkina Faso to Algeria (photo above). Both of these accidents were caused by engine faults. Currently, the DC-9 / MD-80s line is still being exploited by many airlines, of which American Airlines has 28 MD-83s in the fleet and Delta Air Lines operates 80 aircraft and its the only aircraft in Dana Air’s fleet with a total of 6.