There Were 3 Major Airplane Crashes on This Day in History: Revisiting the July 17 Tragedies

There were at least three major airplane crashes on July 17, with 1996’s TWA Flight 800 being the third-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history.

In 1996, Trans World Airlines Flight 800 was scheduled to fly out of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France.

Shortly after takeoff, the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about eight miles south of East Moriches, New York, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Witnesses saw debris falling into the ocean after the airplane exploded, which was caused by flammable fuel vapors in the center fuel tank. There were 212 passengers and 18 crew members on board, and all tragically died in the crash.

According to the History Channel, the tragedy took place two days before the opening of the XXVI Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, so some suspected foul play. However, an investigation that concluded in 1998 determined the explosion resulted from mechanical failure, not from a bomb or a missile.

In 2014, 298 people on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 died when the airplane went down on July 17 of that year, per Encyclopedia Britannica.

The flight, filled mostly with citizens of the Netherlands, was en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from Amsterdam when it was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, it was believed Russian-backed armed forces actually thought the plane was a Ukrainian military aircraft. Three men were found guilty of murder in 2022. They were given life sentences, the Associated Press reported at the time.

On the same date in 2007, TAM Airlines Flight 3054 left 199 people dead. According to Time, it was the worst aviation accident in Brazil’s history, and it is also considered the biggest aviation tragedy in Latin America.

Netflix released a 2025 docuseries titled A Tragedy Foretold: Flight 3054, recounting what led to the disaster.

Time reported that the aircraft failed to land properly at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo. It overran the runway and collided with a TAM building and a gas station, causing an explosion.