Top 10 deadliest airline disasters

Updated: 2014-03-14 08:05 By Sun Chengdong (chinadaily.com.cn)

No.4 Turkish Airlines Flight 981 Year:1973

Fatalities: 346 Survivors: 0

Flying from Paris to London, the plane had an unusually large number of people onboard for this flight because of a British strike. As they flew over the town of Meaux, France, there was the sound of a muffled explosion and loud rush of air as the cargo hatch blew off. The cabin floor above the cargo hold collapsed, destroying the lines that connected the flight controls to the actual parts they were controlling. The pilots fought for control for 72 seconds before the aircraft crashed into a forest. The airplane disintegrated to such an extent that a bomb was temporarily considered as a possible cause. The cargo hatch that had blown off was found in a field along with part of the cabin floor and six seats still holding their dead passengers. This has been the deadliest crash of a DC-10.