On 19 December 1997, Silk Air Flight 185 en route to Singapore crashed into the Musi River in Indonesia after abruptly plunging from its 35,000 feet (10,668 m) cruise altitude, killing all 97 passengers and 7 crew on board in an instant.

On 30 June 1956, United Airlines Flight 718 and Trans World Airlines Flight 2 collided over the Grand Canyon in Arizona. All 128 occupants on both flights were killed. At the time it was the deadliest airline crash in history, and would lead to sweeping changes in the regulation of flight operations over the United States.