Aviation accidents in 1987

2,172 accidents and incidents are recorded in 1987, with 1,721 people killed and 442 seriously injured. 18% of the accidents were fatal.

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Takeaways

• General aviation accounts for 85% of these accidents and 65% of deaths. Airline flights account for 2% of accidents.

Deadliest accidents

1. LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055, Stefan Starzynski Nature reserve Kabacki forest (May 9, 1987) · 183 killed
2. South African Airways Flight 295, Indian Ocean (Nov 28, 1987) · 159 killed
3. Mcdonnell Douglas DC-9-82, Romulus, MI (Aug 17, 1987) · 154 killed
4. Korean Air Flight 858, Andaman Sea (Nov 29, 1987) · 115 killed
5. Thai Airways Flight 365, Thailand (Aug 31, 1987) · 83 killed
6. Philippine Airlines Flight 206 (Jun 26, 1987) · 50 killed
7. Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771, Cayucos (Dec 7, 1987) · 43 killed
8. British Aerospace BAE-146-200, San Luis Obispo, CA (Dec 8, 1987) · 43 killed
9. 1987 Alianza Lima plane crash, Pacific Ocean (Dec 8, 1987) · 43 killed
10. Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460, Italy (Oct 15, 1987) · 37 killed

By type of operation

US states

Countries outside the US

Aircraft makers

Aircraft models

Nearby years

• 1985 · 2,414 accidents
• 1986 · 2,248 accidents
• 1988 · 1,968 accidents
• 1989 · 1,881 accidents

These are counts of recorded accidents, not risk rates: the data has no flight hours, so a place or aircraft near the top mostly reflects how much flying happens there. Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain), plus notable international accidents from Wikidata and Wikipedia. US-heavy; the NTSB only codes phase and cause for accidents from 2008 on, so those tables leave out earlier years.