Airbus A320 plane crashes

The following are significant events involving the aircraft model. The numbered events are those involving at least one passenger death where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role, and where at least one of the dead passengers was not a stowaway, hijacker, or saboteur.

Note: This page will include events involving all models from the A320 family, including the A318, A319, and A321.

26 June 1988; Air France A320; flight AF296Q; near Mulhouse-Habsheim Airport, France: The aircraft, which was on a demonstration flight that included passengers, crashed into trees during an air show maneuver when the aircraft failed to gain height during a low pass with the gear extended. All three crew members survived and three of the 130 passengers were killed.
14 February 1990; Indian Airlines A320; Flight 605; Bangalore, India: Controlled flight into terrain during approach. Aircraft hit about 400 meters short of the runway. Four of the seven crew members and 88 of the 139 passengers were killed.
20 January 1992; Air Inter A320; F-GGED; flight 148; near Strasbourg, France: The aircraft, which was on a scheduled domestic flight from Lyon to Strasbourg, France, had a controlled flight into terrain after the flight crew incorrectly configured the flight management system. Five of the six crew and 82 of the 90 passengers perished.
14 September 1993; Lufthansa A320-200; Flight 2904; Warsaw Airport, Poland: Aircraft landed with a tail wind. Landing performance and aircraft design led to a late deployment of braking devices. Aircraft overran the runway. One of the 6 crew and 1 of the 64 passengers were killed.
23 August 2000; Gulf Air A320; Flight 072; Near Manama, Bahrain: The aircraft was making a third attempt to land at the Bahrain International Airport after a flight from Cairo when the aircraft crashed into the sea about three miles (4.8 km) from the airport. All eight crew members and 135 passengers were killed.
Related accident information
3 May 2006; Armavia Airlines A320; near Sochi, Russia:
The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Yerevan, Armenia to Sochi. At the time of the crash, visibility was limited due to darkness, a low overcast cloud layer, and light rain showers. The crew reportedly abandoned the first landing attempt due to the weather conditions. While the crew was maneuvering for a second landing attempt on a different runway, the aircraft crashed into the Black Sea about 6 km (3.8 miles) from the airport.
All eight crew members and 105 passengers were killed.
Fatal Events for Airlines of the former Soviet Union
17 July 2007; TAM Linhas Aéreas A320-200; PR-MBK; flight 3054; São Paulo, Brazil: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Porto Alegre (POA) to the Congohas Airport in São Paulo (CGH). According to the airline, one of the two thrust reversers had been deactivated prior to the flight. The aircraft landed at a higher than normal speed and departed the runway. After the aircraft crossed a major road to the left of the runway, it crashed into a concrete building and caught fire. All six crew members and 181 passengers were killed, as well as several people on the ground.
TAM plane crashes
Map of the area of the accident
30 May 2008; TACA A320-200; Flight 390; Tegucigalpa, Honduras: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from San Salvador, El Salvador, to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The aircraft landed, overran the runway, went down an embankment, and struck several vehicles. One of the six crew members and two of the 118 passengers were killed. Two people outside the aircraft were also killed.
TACA plane crashes
Initial AirSafe.com report on this accident
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27 November 2008; XL Airways Germany A320-200; D-AXLA; near Perpignan, France : The aircraft had been leased to XL Airways Germany and a flight test crew, along with an Air New Zealand civil aviation inspector, were conducting a test flight prior to the aircraft being returned to its owner, Air New Zealand. On approach into Perpignan, the aircraft was seen to enter a rapid dive before it crashed in the Mediterranean Sea just off the coast. All seven occupants were killed.

15 January 2009; US Airways A320-200; N106US; flight 1549; New York, NY: The aircraft was on a scheduled passenger flight from New York (LaGuardia) to Charlotte, NC The aircraft struck a flock of birds shortly after takeoff and experienced a loss of power to both engines. The crew was able to successfully ditch the aircraft in the Hudson River near midtown Manhattan. The aircraft reached an maximum altitude of about 3200 feet before it began to descend. After ditching, all five crew members and 150 passengers evacuated the aircraft. One passenger sustained serious injuries.
US Airways plane crashes
Other Significant A320 Events
Jet Airliner Ditching Events
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28 July 2010; Airblue; A321-231; AP-BJB; flight 202; near Islamabad, Pakistan: The aircraft (AP-BJB) was on a scheduled domestic flight from Karachi to Islamabad, Pakistan when it crashed during approach in a hilly area near the airport. The aircraft was completely destroyed in the crash, and all 146 passengers and six crew members were killed. The crash occurred at 9:45 am local time, and there was rain in the area at the time of the crash.
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Wikipedia page about AirBlue
28 December 2014; AirAsia A320-216; PK-AXC; flight QZ8501; Java Sea: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight between Surabaya, Indonesia and Singapore, and contact was lost while the airliner was en route. Shortly before contact was lost, the crew requested an altitude change and a deviation from their planned route in order to avoid weather. There were no survivors from among the 155 passengers and seven crew members.
AirAsia crashes
Official accident report
24 March 2015; Germanwings A320-200; D-AIPX; flight 4U9525; near Barcelonnette, France: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Barcelona, Spain to Düsseldorf, Germany. About a half hour after takeoff, while at a cruising altitude of 38,000 feet, the aircraft began losing altitude, and crashed about ten minutes later. The investigative authorities suspect that the first officer deliberately crashed the aircraft. All six crew members and 144 passengers were killed.
More details on the Germanwings crash
Deliberate crashes by airliner pilots
Lufthansa crashes
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29 March 2015; Air Canada A320-200; C-FTJP; flight 624; near Halifax, Canada: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Toronto to Halifax, Canada. At the time the aircraft entered the Halifax area, visibility was limited due to both darkness and snowfall, and the aircraft entered a holding pattern before attempting a landing. During final approach, the aircraft touched down about 300 meters short of the runway, apparently hitting a combination of power lines and a localizer array before sliding onto the runway. The aircraft slid down the runway about 1000 meters, coming to rest just off the left side of the runway.

Damage to the aircraft included collapsed main and nose landing gear, both engines severely damaged, with the left engine sheared off, separated radome, and damage to the wings, stabilizers, and underside of the fuselage. While there was a fuel leak, there was no post crash fire. There were 23 injuries among the five crew members and 133 passengers.
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31 October 2015; Metrojet A321-200; EI-ETJ; flight 7K9268; near Hasna, Egypt: The aircraft was on a nonscheduled international flight from Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt to St. Petersburg, Russia. Air traffic control lost contact with the flight about 23 minutes after departure, after the aircraft reached a cruising altitude of about 31,000 feet. The aircraft crashed in a remote area of the Sinai Peninsula shortly thereafter. All seven crew members and 217 passengers were killed. This is the second fatal crash for this airline. In January 2011, three passengers were killed after a Kolavia Tu154 caught fire shortly before takeoff . Metrojet operated as Kogalymavia or Kolavia until 2012.
Crashes involving Russian airlines
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2 February 2016; Daallo Airlines A321-100; SX-BHS; flight D3159; near Mogadishu, Somalia: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Mogadishu, Somalia to Djibouti. Shortly after takeoff, when the aircraft was at about 11,000 feet, there was an explosion caused by a bomber that caused a fuselage rupture in the forward portion of the passenger cabin. There was also evidence of fire in the area of the fuselage damage. The crew was able to return to the departure airport at Mogadishu. The only person killed was the bomber, who was ejected out of the aircraft. None of the other 73 passeners were killed, though two were injured. All seven crew members survived.
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19 May 2016; EgyptAir A320-200; SU-GCC; flight MS804; en route Paris to Cairo: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Paris, France to Cairo, Egypt when radar contact was lost. The aircraft was cruising at 37,000 feet and over the eastern Mediterranean Sea north of the Egyptian coast and crashed into the sea. There were no survivors among the 56 passengers and 10 crew members on board. Three of the crew members were reportedly security personnel.
EgyptAir plane crashes
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Todd Curtis interviewed by Al Jazeera

Additional Todd Curtis interviews on BBC, NPR, and Fox Business .

15 August 2019; Ural Airlines A321-211, VQ-BOZ, Zhukovsky, Russia: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Zhukovsky to Simferopol, Russia when it encountered a flock of birds shortly after takeoff. Both engines were struck and lost power. The crew landed the aircraft in a field, with landing gear up, about two kilometers from the runway. There was no post crash fire. All seven crew members and 226 passengers survived the emergency landing.
Plane crashes in Russia and the former Soviet Union
22 May 2020; Pakistan International Airlines A320-200; AP-BLD; flight PK8303; Karachi, Pakistan: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Lahore to Karachi, Pakistan. During the first landing attempt, the both engines scraped against the runway, damaging the lower portions of both engines. The crew rejected that landing and during the second approach the landing gear were observed in an extended postion. At some point after the first landing attempt, the Ram Air Tubine (RAT) had been deployed. The crew was unable to reach the airport on the second landing attempt, crashing in a densely populated residential area less than a mile from the runway. All eight crew members and 89 of the 91 passengers passengers were killed. Several people on the ground, as well as the two surving passengers, were seriously injured
Pakistan International Airlines crashes
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Other Airbus Models
A300 , A310, A320, A330, A340, A380

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Airbus A320 plane crashes
http://airsafe.com/events/models/a320.htm -- Revised: 25 May 2020