List of Accidents and Incidents Involving Commercial Aircraft - 1961

1961

• January 3 – Aero Flight 311, a Douglas DC-3, crashes into woods near Koivulahti, Finland, killing all 25 on board.
• February 15 – Sabena Flight 548, a Boeing 707, crashes on approach in Brussels, Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team: a runaway stabilizer is thought to have been the cause of the first fatal accident involving a 707 in regular passenger service.
• March 28 – ČSA Flight 511, an Ilyushin Il-18, crashed in Gräfenberg, West Germany. All 52 passengers and crew on board were killed.
• May 10 – Air France Flight 406, a Lockheed Starliner, crashes into the Sahara Desert near the Edjele oilfield in Algeria after a bomb goes off on board. All 78 passengers and crew were killed in the crash.
• May 30 – Viasa Flight 897, a Douglas DC-8, crashes shortly after taking off from Lisbon Portela Airport. All 61 passengers and crew on board are killed.
• June 12 – KLM Flight 823, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes while on approach to Cairo International Airport due to pilot error; 20 of 36 on board die.
• July 11 – United Airlines Flight 859, a Douglas DC-8, crashes on landing at Stapleton International Airport, killing 17 passengers and one person on the ground.
• July 19 – Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 644, a Douglas DC-6, crashed a half hour after takeoff from Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Bueno Aires, Argentina. All 67 passengers and crew on board were killed.
• July 21 – Alaska Airlines Flight 779, a Douglas DC-6, crashes on landing at Shemya, Alaska, killing all 6 crew on board.
• August 9 – The Holtaheia Accident: An Eagle Airways Vickers VC.1 Viking crashes at Holta, Strand, Norway, killing all 39 on board, including 36 people from the Archbishop Lanfranc School.
• September 1 – TWA Flight 529, a Lockheed Constellation L-049 propliner, abruptly pitches up and crashes shortly after takeoff from Chicago's Midway Airport, killing all 73 passengers and 5 crew on board; a 5/16 inch bolt which fell out of the elevator control linkage just before the crash is blamed.
• September 12 – Air France Flight 2005, a Sud Aviation Caravelle, crashes on approach to Rabat-Salé Airport, killing all 71 people and 6 crew on board.
• September 17 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes on takeoff from Chicago as a result of a maintenance error causing the aileron s to become detached from the control wheels; all 37 on board die.
• September 23 – The 1961 Turkish Airlines Ankara crash: a Turkish Airlines-operated Fokker F27 Friendship crashes while on approach to Esenboğa Airport; 28 of the 29 passengers and crew on board perish in the crash.
• October 7 – A Derby Aviation C47 crashes into Canigou mountainside en-route London–Perpignan, killing all 34 aboard.
• November 8 – Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8, a Lockheed Constellation L-049, crashes on landing at Byrd Field near Richmond, Virginia; all 74 passengers—mostly new US Army recruits being flown to their base for training—die of carbon monoxide asphyxiation, along with three crew members; the captain and flight engineer survive by escaping the burning wreckage.
• November 23 – Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 322, a de Havilland Comet 4 DH-106 turbojet, crashes in Campinas, Brazil shortly after takeoff, killing all 12 crew and 40 passengers on board.
• November 30 – Ansett-ANA Flight 325, a Vickers Viscount, crashes into Botany Bay, Australia, 9 minutes after takeoff, killing all 15 people on board.