Boeing 757 - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

As of December 2011, the 757 has been involved in 22 aviation occurrences, including eight hull-loss accidents. Seven crashes and 11 hijackings have resulted in 575 occupant fatalities. The first fatal event involving the aircraft occurred on October 2, 1990 when a hijacked Xiamen Airlines 737 collided with a China Southern Airlines 757 on the runways of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, China, killing 46 of the 122 persons on board. On September 11, 2001, hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, killing all 64 on board and 125 on the ground, and United Airlines Flight 93 was also hijacked and crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all 44 on board.

Accidents involving human error include American Airlines Flight 965, which crashed into a mountain in Buga, Colombia on December 20, 1995, killing 151 passengers and eight crew members with four survivors, and the mid-air collision of DHL Flight 611 near Überlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on July 1, 2002, with the loss of two on board plus 69 on a Tupolev Tu-154. American Airlines Flight 965 was blamed on navigational errors by the crew, while DHL Flight 611 involved air traffic control errors. Accidents attributed to pilot disorientation due to improperly maintained instruments include Birgenair Flight 301 on February 6, 1996 in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, with the loss of all 189 passengers and crew, and Aeroperú Flight 603 on October 2, 1996 off the coast of Pasamayo, Peru, with the loss of all 70 on board. In the Birgenair accident, investigators found that the aircraft had been stored without the necessary covers for its pitot tube sensors, thus allowing insects and debris to collect within, while in the Aeroperú accident, protective tape covering static vent sensors had not been removed.

Two private aircraft crashes were blamed on wake turbulence emanating from 757s. On December 18, 1992, a Cessna Citation crashed near Billings Logan International Airport in Montana, killing all six aboard, and on December 15, 1993 a IAI Westwind crashed near John Wayne Airport in California, killing all five aboard. Both airplanes had been flying less than three nautical miles (5.56 km) behind a 757. The FAA subsequently increased the required separation between small aircraft and 757s from four to five nautical miles (7.41 to 9.26 km).

On September 14, 1999, Britannia Airways Flight 226A crash landed near Girona-Costa Brava Airport, Spain during a thunderstorm; the 757's fuselage broke into several pieces, but all 245 occupants were able to evacuate successfully. On October 25, 2010, American Airlines Flight 1640, a 757 flying between Miami and Boston, safely returned to Miami after suffering the loss of a two-foot (0.61 m) fuselage section at an altitude of approximately 31,000 feet. After investigating the incident, the FAA ordered all 757 operators in the U.S. to regularly inspect upper fuselage sections of their aircraft for structural fatigue.