List of Accidents and Incidents Involving Commercial Aircraft - 1983

1983

• January 16 – Turkish Airlines Flight 158, a Boeing 727-2F2, lands about 50 m (160 ft) short of the runway at Ankara Esenboğa Airport, Turkey in driving snow, breaks up and catches fire; 47 passengers are killed, all seven crew and 13 passengers survive the accident with injuries.
• March 11 – An Avensa Douglas DC-9 crashes at Barquisimeto Airport, Venezuela, 22 passengers and one crew killed.
• May 5 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 855,a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, loses power from all engines 30 minutes after takeoff from Miami International Airport; the pilot is able to return to Miami after restarting one engine; no casualties are reported on board.
• June 2 – Air Canada Flight 797, a McDonnell-Douglas DC-9, catches fire during flight over Kentucky; 23 of 46 passengers die from smoke inhalation even after the crew successfully lands the aircraft in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• July 11 – A TAME Boeing 737-200 crashes into a hill near Cuenca, Ecuador, killing all 119 on board.
• July 16 – A British Airways Sikorsky S-61 helicopter crashes into the sea off the Isles of Scilly; 20 of 26 people on board die, in the worst helicopter accident in the United Kingdom to this date and sparking a review of helicopter safety.
• July 23 – Air Canada Flight 143, a Boeing 767, runs out of fuel above Manitoba because of a miscalculation; the crew successfully glides the aircraft to a safe landing at a former Air Force base (and current drag strip) at Gimli, Manitoba; the aircraft becomes known as the Gimli Glider.
• September 1 – Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747, is shot down by Soviet fighter planes near Sakhalin and Moneron Island after straying into Soviet airspace; all 269 people on board are killed.
• September 23 – Gulf Air Flight 771, a Boeing 737, crashes near Mina Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates after a bomb planted by the Abu Nidal Organization detonates on board; all 112 people on board perish.
• October 11 – Air Illinois Flight 710, a Hawker Siddeley HS 748, crashes near Hillsboro Municipal Airport due to electrical problems. All 10 passengers and crew on board are killed.
• November 8 – A TAAG Angola Airlines Boeing 737 is shot down just after takeoff from Lubango Airport; all 130 on board die.
• November 18 – Aeroflot Flight 6833, a Tupolev Tu-134, is hijacked by seven Georgians attempting to defect from the Soviet Union; the aircraft is stormed by Alpha Group who arrest four hijackers; three are executed while the fourth receives a jail sentence; of the 71 on board (including the hijackers), eight die; the aircraft is written off.
• November 27 – Avianca Flight 011, a Boeing 747, strikes a hill because of a navigational error while attempting to land in Madrid, Spain; of the 192 passengers and crew aboard, 11 survive.
• December 7 – In the Madrid Runway Disaster, an Iberia Airways 727 collided on a runway at Madrid-Barajas Airport with an Aviaco DC-9. 51 persons on the Iberia aircraft and all 42 people on board the Aviaco plane were killed in the accident.
• December 20 – Ozark Air Lines Flight 650, a DC-9, collides with a snow plow in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; all on board survive, however the driver of the snow plow is killed.