Boeing 747 - Accidents and Incidents

Accidents and Incidents

As of September 2010, the 747 has been involved in 124 accidents or incidents, including 49 hull-loss accidents, resulting in 2,852 fatalities. The 747 has been in 31 hijackings, which caused 25 fatalities.

Few crashes have been attributed to design flaws of the 747. The Tenerife airport disaster resulted from pilot error, air traffic control (ATC) error, and communications failure, while the Japan Airlines Flight 123 and China Airlines Flight 611 crashes stemmed from improper aircraft repair. United Airlines Flight 811, which suffered an explosive decompression mid-flight on February 24, 1989, led the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to issue a recommendation that 747-200 cargo doors similar to those on the Flight 811 aircraft be modified. Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down by the Soviets in 1983 after it had strayed into Soviet territory, causing U.S. President Ronald Reagan to authorize the then-strictly military Global Positioning System (GPS) for civilian use. Accidents due to design errors included TWA Flight 800, where a 747-100 that exploded in mid-air on July 17, 1996 due to sparking electricity wires inside the fuel tank, led the FAA to propose a rule requiring installation of an inerting system in the center fuel tank of most large aircraft that was adopted in July 2008, after years of research into solutions. It is expected that the new safety system will cost US$100,000 to $450,000 per aircraft and weigh approximately 200 pounds (91 kg). El Al Flight 1862 crashed after the fuse pins of engine 3 broke off shortly after take-off due to metal fatigue. Instead of dropping away from the wing, engine 3 knocked off engine 4 as well as damaging the wing.