The loss of life and property from disaster in 1996 included the following:
January 8, Kinshasa, Zaire. An Antonov-32 cargo plane that apparently was overloaded failed to achieve liftoff and plowed through a bustling open market situated near the runway; an estimated 350 persons were killed as the craft ripped through vendor stalls made of corrugated iron and wood. The Russian crew members who escaped with minor injuries were taken into protective custody when an angry mob attempted to exact punishment for the crash.
January 17, Kano, Nigeria. An airplane crash reportedly claimed the lives of 14 persons, including the son of Nigeria’s head of state; details were not made available.
February 4, Asunción, Paraguay. A Colombian cargo plane with a crew of three and one passenger exploded in midair after its left turbine engine erupted; 22 persons died when the craft dived into a residential area.
February 6, Off the coast of Dominican Republic. A Boeing 757 en route to Frankfurt and Berlin and carrying 189 persons, mostly German tourists, crashed and sank in shark-infested waters shortly after takeoff, apparently after the pilot gauged that he had enough speed to maintain altitude after he consulted a faulty speedometer; all aboard perished.
February 29, Near Arequipa, Peru. A Boeing 737 with 123 persons aboard slammed into a mountain and fell into a canyon while making its approach to land at an altitude below the authorized level; there were no survivors.
April 3, Near Dubrovnik, Croatia. An air force T-43A passenger jet carrying prominent U.S. officials, including Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, veered off course and crashed into a mountain during a driving rainstorm and heavy fog; all 35 persons aboard the craft were killed.
May 3, Near Khartoum, The Sudan. A Sudanese passenger plane crashed during a sandstorm when the pilot attempted to make an emergency landing in an open field because sand had covered the runways at the nearby airport; 48 passengers and 5 crew members died.
May 10, Santa María de Otáes, Mex. A plane transporting a group of miners crashed near a remote airstrip in the mountains of northwestern Mexico; 16 persons were killed, and 3 were seriously injured.
May 10, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Two helicopters taking part in a British-U.S. military exercise collided in the dark and plunged into a densely forested marsh; of the 16 persons aboard the two aircraft, 14 perished.
May 11, Near Miami, Fla. A DC-9 airliner crashed in the Everglades shortly after takeoff and minutes after the crew had reported smoke in the cockpit and cabin; the craft, which carried 109 persons, was mired in sticky muck; there were no survivors.
June 12, Near Townsville, Australia. Two army Blackhawk helicopters that were participating in nighttime antiterrorist maneuvers and flying with their anticollision lights turned off crashed after their rotors touched while they were landing in a training range; 18 persons were killed, and 10 were injured, 3 seriously.
July 15, Eindhoven, Neth. A Belgian military cargo plane that was carrying 41 persons, including members of a Dutch army band, crashed and burst into flames when it landed on the side of the runway; 32 persons perished, including all 4 crew members.
July 17, Off the coast of New York. A Boeing 747 jumbo jet carrying 230 persons en route to Paris exploded in midair and fell into the Atlantic Ocean; the cause of the blast, which claimed the lives of all aboard TWA flight 800, was still under investigation at year’s end.
August 29, Spitsbergen, Nor. A Russian passenger plane carrying coal miners slammed into a snowcapped mountain while attempting to land in dense fog; all 141 persons aboard were killed.
October 2, Near Ancón, Peru. A Boeing 757 airliner plunged into the Pacific Ocean shortly after it took off from Lima and minutes after the pilot had radioed that his cockpit instrumentation was malfunctioning; the crash, in which all 70 persons aboard were killed, occurred after workers forgot to remove the duct tape that they had placed over key sensors while cleaning the plane.
October 22, Manta, Ecuador. A Miami-bound cargo plane exploded shortly after takeoff when it grazed a church bell tower; the plummeting aircraft ripped roofs off homes and sent a shower of fiery debris upon the densely populated neighbourhood; at least 23 persons were killed, including the 3 crew members.
October 31, São Paulo, Braz. An airliner carrying 96 persons to Rio de Janeiro failed to gain altitude after takeoff and plowed through a busy residential area; at least 104 persons were killed, including 8 on the ground who were engulfed in flames as the airliner spewed chunks of fuselage and drenched passersby with fuel.
November 7, Imota, Nigeria. A Boeing 727 airliner with 141 persons aboard went down in a swamp outside Lagos after losing radio contact midway into its flight; there were no survivors.
November 12, Near New Delhi. A midair collision between a Saudi Boeing 747 passenger plane with 312 persons aboard and a Kazak airliner carrying 37 passengers and crew claimed the lives of all 349 persons; it was the worst midair collision in aviation history.
November 19, Quincy, Ill. A runway collision between two small commuter planes and the ensuing fire claimed the lives of all 13 persons aboard the two planes.
November 22, Off the coast of Cape Mendocino, California. A military HC-130, which was conducting a training mission, crashed with 11 crew aboard, shortly after the pilot had reported a complete electrical failure; one airman survived.
November 23, Off the coast of the Comoros. A hijacked Ethiopian airliner, a Boeing 767 that had run out of fuel, bounced on the water before crash-landing nose first just short of the beach; of the 175 persons aboard, at least 120 were killed.
November 27, Central Siberia, Russia. A military cargo plane that was carrying some 30 tons of commercial goods crashed into a mountain and exploded; all 23 persons aboard were killed.
November 30, Near Medellín, Colom. A small passenger plane slammed into a hill shortly after experiencing mechanical failure moments after takeoff; of the 15 persons aboard, one survived.
December 17, Northwestern Russia. A military cargo plane with 17 persons aboard crashed during takeoff; there were no survivors.