TASS-FACTBOX. The TASS editorial team has compiled a list of aviation disasters that occurred in 2025, resulting in the deaths of ten or more people, in chronological order. At least 12 such incidents were recorded during the year, including two involving big passenger jets. Russia also made it on to the tragic list, with July's crash of an An-24 in the Amur Region. The rundown does not include planes that went down due to combat operations.
January 29. United States
A Bombardier CRJ-701ER passenger aircraft (registration number N709PS) operated by American Airlines collided midair with a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter operated by the US Army near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The aircraft was en route from Kansas with 60 passengers and four crew members on board. Three military personnel were aboard the helicopter. Following the collision, the passenger plane crashed into the Potomac River. All 67 people involved were killed.
A preliminary investigation report published on March 11 cited critically short separation distances between aircraft flight paths in the airport area and revealed that aviation authorities had ignored data on recurring dangerous encounters there for years.
January 29. South Sudan
A Light Air Services Beechcraft 1900D (registration number 5X-RHB) crashed in northern South Sudan while en route to Juba. The aircraft was carrying 21 people - two crew members and 19 passengers, all engineers working at an oil field. The crash occurred a few minutes after takeoff from Unity State Airport. Nineteen people were killed; two survived.
February 6. United States (Alaska)
A Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX (registration number N321BA) operated by Bering Air disappeared from radar over Norton Sound while flying from Unalakleet to Nome. The wreckage was later found on sea ice. All ten people on board — the pilot and nine passengers — were killed.
February 25. Sudan
An An-26 military transport aircraft belonging to Sudan’s air force crashed shortly after takeoff from Wadi Seidna Air Base near Omdurman. The aircraft fell into a residential area and caught fire. Forty-six people were killed, including all 17 occupants on board and 29 people on the ground. A technical malfunction was cited as the likely cause.
March 17. Honduras
A British Aerospace Jetstream 32 passenger aircraft (registration number HR-AYW) operated by Aerolinea Lanhsa crashed into the Caribbean Sea shortly after takeoff near Roatan Island, about 65 km north of Honduras’ Atlantic coast. The aircraft was en route to La Ceiba. Of the 17 people on board, 12 were killed and five were injured. Among the victims was renowned Honduran musician and former congressman Aurelio Martinez.
June 12. India
An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (registration number VT-ANB) crashed into a residential area near Ahmedabad Airport during takeoff on a flight bound for London. The aircraft broke apart and caught fire. Of the 242 people on board (230 passengers and 12 crew members), 241 were killed; one passenger survived. Nineteen people on the ground were also killed, and 67 were injured.
A preliminary report released on July 2 by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau stated that fuel supply switches to both engines had been turned off during takeoff. Cockpit voice recordings captured one pilot asking, “Why did you turn off [the fuel switches]?” to which the other replied, “I didn’t.”
The aircraft was piloted by 60-year-old captain Sumit Sabharwal, who had logged 8,200 flight hours, and Clive Kunder, 26, with 1,100 hours of experience.
July 21. Bangladesh
A Chengdu FT-7BGI two-seat training and combat aircraft (tail number 2701) operated by the Bangladeshi Air Force crashed into a school in Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood immediately after takeoff. Thirty-six people were killed - 32 students, three teachers and the pilot, who died later in the hospital. More than 170 people were injured. Investigators concluded the crash was caused by pilot error.
July 24. Russia
An An-24RV passenger aircraft (registration number RA-47315) operated by Angara Airlines crashed in the Amur Region while flying the Khabarovsk–Blagoveshchensk–Tynda route. The wreckage was found on a mountainside 16 km from Tynda. All 48 people on board were killed, including 42 passengers (two of them children), four crew members, and two airline technicians.
Preliminary findings indicated no aircraft system failures prior to the crash. On July 30, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency revoked Angara’s maintenance certification. On August 21, the carrier’s training center lost its certification, and on October 27, its commercial air transport operating certificate was also revoked.
October 28. Kenya
A Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (registration number 5Y-CCA) operated by Mombasa Air Safari crashed into a hillside shortly after takeoff from Ukunda Airport in Kwale County. All 11 people on board — the pilot and ten tourists from Hungary and Germany — were killed. A preliminary report published in December cited poor weather conditions, including dense fog, as the likely cause.
November 4. United States
A McDonnell Douglas MD-11F cargo aircraft (registration number N259UP) operated by UPS Airlines crashed during takeoff from Louisville International Airport on a flight to Honolulu. The aircraft lost its left engine, veered off course, and struck an industrial facility, breaking apart. Fourteen people were killed — three crew members and 11 people on the ground. A preliminary report released on November 20 found structural cracks caused by worn-down metal.
November 11. Georgia
A Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft (tail number 68-1609) belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces crashed after entering Georgian airspace following takeoff from Azerbaijan. The aircraft disappeared from radar without issuing a distress signal and went down about five km from the Georgian-Azerbaijani border near Sighnaghi. All 20 Turkish military personnel on board were killed.
December 15. Mexico
A Cessna 650 Citation III business jet (registration number XA-PRO) operated by Jetpro crashed while attempting to land at Toluca Airport in central Mexico. The aircraft, flying from Acapulco, lost altitude during a second landing approach, struck a warehouse, broke apart, and burned. All ten people on board were killed — two pilots and eight passengers from the same family.