List of Accidents and Incidents Involving Commercial Aircraft - 1991

1991

• February 1 – USAir Flight 1493, a Boeing 737, strikes SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569, a Fairchild Metro commuter plane waiting to take off from the same runway on which the Boeing 737 was landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Of the 101 people on both aircraft, 34 people, including all 12 aboard the Metro and 22 of the Boeing 737 passengers, are killed.
• March 3 – United Airlines Flight 585, a Boeing 737, crashes while attempting to land at Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing all 25 people on board. The cause of the crash is not identified until the investigation into the crash of USAir Flight 427 in 1994; both crashes are eventually attributed to defects in a valve associated with the rudder.
• March 26 – Singapore Airlines Flight 117, an Airbus A310, is hijacked by Pakistani militants en route to Singapore, where, upon landing, it is stormed by Singapore Special Operations forces. All of the hijackers are killed in the operation, with no fatalities amongst the passengers and crew.
• April 5 – Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311, an Embraer 120RT Brasília, rolls sharply and crashes on final approach to Brunswick, Georgia, killing all 23 people on board, including former Texas senator John Tower, his adult daughter, and astronaut Sonny Carter.
• May 26 – Lauda Air Flight 004, a Boeing 767, disintegrates in mid-air over Uthai Thani Province, Thailand, killing all 223 people on board. A thrust reverser had accidentally deployed in flight, causing the disaster. It is the first fatal crash of a Boeing 767.
• July 10 – L'Express Airlines Flight 508, a Beechcraft Model 99, crashes while on approach Birmingham Municipal Airport in Birmingham, Alabama, due to severe thunderstorms. Two survive the crash out of 15 on board.
• July 11 – Nigeria Airways Flight 2120, a Nationair McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61 chartered by Nigeria Airways to transport Nigerian pilgrims to Mecca, crashes shortly after takeoff from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, because of a fire caused by tire failure. All 261 on board die, including 14 Canadian crew members.
• August 16 – Indian Airlines Flight 257, a Boeing 737, hits high ground during descent about 30 km from the Imphal airport. All six crew members and 63 passengers were killed.
• September 11 – Continental Express Flight 2574, an Embraer 120RT Brasília, crashes on descent in Eagle Lake, Texas, killing all 14 people on board. Maintenance crews traded work shifts during repairs to the horizontal stabilizer, inadvertently leaving 47 bolts missing. Reformers pointed to this error and called for development of a "safety culture".
• December 27 – Both engines of Scandinavian Airlines Flight 751, a McDonnell-Douglas MD-81, fail shortly after takeoff from Stockholm, Sweden. The pilots successfully make an emergency landing in a nearby field, injuring 25 passengers but incurring not a single fatality.
• December 29 – China Airlines Flight 358, a Boeing 747-200F, suffers double engine separation and crashes into a hill near Wanli, Taipei, Taiwan, killing all 5 crew on board.