Boeing 707 / 720

The Boeing 707 has been out of regular passenger service for years, and its record is that of the first jet age. Up to 7 October 2026 the 707 and its shorter sister, the 720, have 93 fatal events in our data. 36 count, in about 36 million passenger flights; 34 of those happened before 1990, and 19 in the 1960s alone. Many more cargo and training crashes are listed but not counted. As a first-generation jet it is compared with the DC-8, whose record is similar.

What the 707 is and where it still flies

The 707 was Boeing's first jetliner: four engines under swept wings, an analogue cockpit and a flight engineer. It first flew in 1957 and entered service with Pan Am in 1958. Boeing built 1,010, including the 720 and the long-range 707-320 Intercontinental. Later 707-320B and -320C versions had quieter, more efficient turbofan engines, and the -320C could carry cargo.

Pan Am, TWA, American, BOAC, Air France and Air India flew it on the first jet routes. Many 707s were later converted to freighters or air force tankers. About 10 remain in service, mostly with air forces. You cannot book a seat on one.

Learning to fly jets

Several 1960s accidents taught the industry how jets behave. On 1 March 1962, American Airlines 1 rolled over just after take-off from New York and dived into Jamaica Bay; a rudder control fault was blamed and all 95 died. Three months later, a trim fault kept an Air France 707 from lifting off at Orly. The captain abandoned the take-off too late and 130 of 132 died. Lightning ignited fuel vapour in a Pan Am 707 near Elkton, Maryland, in 1963 (81 dead). On 5 March 1966 a BOAC 707 flew into extreme turbulence near Mount Fuji in clear weather and broke apart (124).

Into high ground

Fourteen counted accidents were flights into terrain. Air India's 707 hit Mont Blanc in 1966 after the captain misjudged his position (117 dead). Pan Am lost 107 near Bali in 1974 when the crew turned for the approach 30 nautical miles too early. The deadliest 707 accident was a Royal Air Maroc charter flown by Jordanian World Airways, which clipped a peak near Agadir in 1975 (188). Independent Air 1851 hit a ridge in the Azores in 1989 after descending below the safe altitude (144).

Fire and fuel

• 11 July 1973, Varig: a fire in the rear toilets filled the cabin with smoke near Paris. The crew force-landed in a field, but most passengers had already been overcome; 123 of 134 died.
• 26 November 1979, PIA 740: a fire near the rear door after leaving Jeddah overcame the crew, and all 156 died. Its source was never found.
• 25 January 1990, Avianca 52: after more than an hour of holding near New York, all four engines ran out of fuel. 73 of 158 died. The NTSB faulted fuel management and the failure to declare an emergency.

The last counted accident was in 2005, when a Saha Air 707 ran off the runway at Tehran into a river, and three passengers who fell into the water during the evacuation died.

What is left out

Fifteen acts of violence are listed but not counted, including Korean Air 858, destroyed by a bomb left by North Korean agents in 1987 (115 dead), and TWA 841, bombed over the Ionian Sea in 1974 (88). Forty-two cargo, training, ferry and military crashes are also left out; the most recent, an Iranian Air Force 707 freighter flown by Saha Air that overran at Fath in 2019, killed 15. Our methodology explains why.

How to tell if you are on one

Flight trackers show B701 or B703 for the 707 and B720 for the 720. Four engines on pylons under the wing and a narrow body make it look like a slimmer DC-8.