On October 31st, 2015, an airplane flying from Egypt to Russia suffered an explosion,
killing 224 people onboard.
The blast was reported by US intelligence to be the result of a terrorist bombing, possibly
by a branch of ISIS.
Investigations are currently underway.
But while the use of airplanes in terrorism is notable, it is actually incredibly rare,
having only occurred a handful of times in the past century.
To get a better sense of the risk, we wanted to know: what have been the worst cases of
airplane terrorism?
Well, the most well know case is also the primary reason that people associate planes
with terrorism: the attacks of September 11th.
Saudi Arabian Islamic extremists hijacked four airplanes, crashing three of them into
the the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon in Virginia.
The death toll was nearly 3,000 people.
These attacks brought about increased airport security, aggressive US intervention in the
Middle East, and ramped up domestic surveillance.
But this was not the first act of mid-air terrorism.
The second worst occurred in 1985.
A Boeing 747 travelling from Canada to India was blown up by a suitcase bomb, which was
checked-in by a passenger who never actually got on the plane.
The attack killed 329 people on board, primarily Canadians of Indian ancestry.
Perhaps surprisingly, the perpetrators of the attack were thought to be Sikh terrorists.
This group had been fighting for the independence of a part of India known as Khalistan, and
as with many similar independence fighters, the Indian government fought back.
This culminated in a massacre of Sikhs at one of their holiest temples.
Several months later, the Indian Prime Minister who had authorized the attack was assassinated
by her Sikh bodyguards, launching a new wave of murders of Sikhs (seek) in India.
The 1985 bombing of the plane was considered payback for this ongoing escalation of violence
by the Indian government and people.
One more infamous plane bombing occurred in 1988, where a suitcase bomb went off on an
American plane as it flew over Scotland, killing 243 people.
In recent years it is thought to have been ordered by Libyan officials, even possibly
by ex-leader Muammar Gaddafi, as revenge for US military actions.
But despite the supposed frequency of these events, from 1999 to 2009, only six flights
were sabotaged with terrorist intent.
Four of them were the planes taken on September 11th, and the other two were the foiled shoe
and underwear bombers.
That’s six flights, out of roughly 100 million that occurred during that same time period.
With other added factors, the chances of dying in an airline terrorist attack are about one
in ten million.
That’s roughly the same odds as becoming President of the United States.
So even if the October 2015 plane bombing does turn out to have been terrorism, the
chances of dying in such an attack are almost zero.
If you’re interested in learning more about the rise and fall of terrorism, check out
TestTube Plus’ playlist up at the top.
In the video down below, find out how Al Qaeda managed to survive after coordinating the
September 11 attacks.
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