page_title: List of accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737
section_title: 1980s
hierarchical_section_title: List of accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 / 737 Original (-100/-200) aircraft / 1980s
caption_attribution_description: English: The fuselage of Aloha Airlines Flight 243 after suffering an explosive decompression while in flight on April 28, 1988.
context_page_description: The following is a list of accidents and incidents involving the Boeing family of jet airliners, including the Boeing 737 Original, Boeing 737 Classic, Boeing 737 Next Generation and Boeing 737 MAX series of aircraft.
  The 737 series was the best-selling commercial jetliner in history until this achievement was surpassed by the Airbus A320 series in 2019 mainly due to the Boeing 737 MAX groundings, with the first unit having first entered airline service in February 1968 and the 10,000th unit entering service in March 2018. The first accident involving a 737 was on July 19, 1970, when a 737-200 was damaged beyond repair during an aborted takeoff, with no fatalities; the first fatal accident occurred on December 8, 1972, when United Airlines Flight 553 crashed while attempting to land, with 45 fatalities; and, as of August 2020, the greatest loss of life aboard a 737 occurred on October 29, 2018, when Lion Air Flight 610, a 737 MAX 8, crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff, with 189 fatalities.
context_section_description: November 4, 1980 – TAAG Angola Airlines 737-200 registration D2-TAA, that landed short of the runway at Benguela Airport, slid some 900 m following the collapse of the gear; a fire broke out in the right wing but there were no reported fatalities. The aircraft caught fire again during recovery operations the next day and was written off.
  May 2, 1981 – Aer Lingus Flight 164, a 737-200, was hijacked en route from Dublin Airport, Ireland to London's Heathrow Airport, UK. While on approach to Heathrow, about five minutes before the flight was due to land, a 55-year-old Australian man went into the toilet and doused himself in petrol. He then went to the cockpit and demanded that the aircraft be diverted to Le Touquet – Côte d'Opale Airport in France, and refuel there for a flight to Tehran, Iran. Upon landing at Le Touquet and after an eight-hour standoff (during which time 11 of 112 hostages were released), French special forces stormed the aircraft and apprehended hijacker Lawrence Downey. No shots were fired and nobody was injured.
  August 22, 1981 – Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103, a 737-200 (registration B-2603) broke apart in mid-air and crashed 14 minutes after taking off from Taipei Songshan Airport. All 6 crew and 104 passengers were killed.
  January 13, 1982 – Air Florida Flight 90, a 737-200, crashed in a severe snowstorm, immediately after takeoff from Washington National Airport, hitting the 14th Street Bridge and fell into the ice-covered Potomac River in Washington, D.C. All but five of the 74 passengers and five crew members died; four motorists on the bridge were also killed.
  May 25, 1982 – VASP 737-200 registration PP-SMY, made a hard landing and touched down on its nose gear first at Brasília in rainy conditions. The gear collapsed and the aircraft skidded off the runway breaking in two. Two passengers out of 118 occupants died.
  August 26, 1982 – Southwest Air Lines Flight 611, a 737-200 (registration JA8444) overran the runway at Ishigaki Airport in Japan and was destroyed. There were no fatalities but some were injured during the emergency evacuation.
  March 27, 1983 – LAM Mozambique Airlines 737-200 registration C9-BAB. Undercarriage failure after landing some 400 metres (1,300 ft) short of the runway at Quelimane Airport. There were no fatalities.
  July 11, 1983 – TAME 737-2V2 Advanced, registration HC-BIG, crashed while attempting to land at Mariscal Lamar Airport, killing all 111 passengers and eight crew on board. The cause of the crash was a CFIT (Controlled Flight Into Terrain) as a result of the pilot's inexperience with the aircraft. It remains the deadliest aviation accident in Ecuadorean history. after a radio station reported witnesses to a mid-air explosion.
  September 23, 1983 – Gulf Air Flight 771, a 737-200 (registration A40-BK) crashed after a bomb exploded in the baggage compartment causing it to stall and come down in the desert, near Mina Jebel Ali between Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. All 5 crew and 107 passengers were killed.
  November 8, 1983 – TAAG Angola Airlines Flight 462 stalled and crashed shortly after taking off from Lubango Mukanka Airport in Angola resulting in the deaths of all its 130 occupants (126 passengers and 4 crew) on board. Local guerilla force UNITA claimed it had brought the aircraft down with a surface-to-air missile.
  February 9, 1984 – TAAG Angola Airlines 737-200 registration D2-TBV, that departed from Albano Machado Airport operating a scheduled passenger service, suffered hydraulic problems following an explosion in the rear of the aircraft and returned to the airport of departure for an emergency landing. The aircraft touched down fast and overran the runway.
  March 22, 1984 – Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501, a 737-200 regularly scheduled flight that caught fire in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Five people were seriously injured and 22 suffered minor injuries, but no-one was killed.
  August 30, 1984 – Cameroon Airlines Flight 786, a 737-200 (registration TJ-CBD)  caught fire as the aircraft was taxiing out for takeoff at Douala Internatio
caption: Aloha Airlines Flight 243 after its emergency landing at Kahului, Maui in April 1988
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