Backgrounder: Major air crashes since 2003

    BEIJING, Sept. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- An Indonesian Boeing 737-200 crashed Monday into a residential neighborhood in the city of Medan, Indonesia's third-largest city, killing all 117 people on board. Following is a chronology of major air crashes since 2003:     

    March 6, 2003: An Algerian flag carrier Boeing 737-200 crashes shortly after takeoff from Tamanrasset airport, killing all but one of the 97 passengers and six crew members on board.

    July 8: A Sudanese airliner bound for Khartoum crashes with theloss of all but one of the 105 passengers and 11 crew members aboard.

    Dec. 25: A plane owned by the Guinean-based airline UTA crashesinto the sea off the West African state of Benin, killing 139 of the 151 passengers and 10 crew members on board.

    Jan. 3, 2004: An Egyptian 737 charter plane belonging to Flash Airlines crashes into the Red Sea, killing at least 148 people.

    Feb. 10: An Iranian passenger plane crashes and bursts into flames near Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, killing 43 of the 40 passengers and six crew members on board.

    Aug. 24,: Two Russian planes departing from a Moscow airport crash within minutes of each other, killing at least 89 people in a terror attack. Explosives were found on both aircraft.

    Nov. 30: A Lion Air passenger plane skids off the runway and crashes during heavy rains in central Indonesia, killing at least 31 people and injuring 75, with 47 others missing.

    Feb. 3, 2005: An Afghan airliner crashes into a mountain near Kabul, killing all 104 people on board. The Boeing 737 was operated by Afghanistan's only private airline, Kam Air.

    March 16: An An-24 two-engine turboprop aircraft crashes and catches fire while trying to reach an airport near the oil port of Varandei in the Nenets autonomous region on Russia's Pechora Sea, killing 28 of the 53 people on board.

    May 26: An An-28 passenger plane crashes in eastern mountain area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), killing all the 32 passengers and crew members on board.

    Aug. 6: A Tunisian ATR-42 plane crashes into the sea off Palermo in Sicily, Italy, killing 13 of the 39 passengers and crewmembers on board, with three others missing.

    Aug. 14: A Cypriot Boeing 737 operated by the private Helios Airways crashed in north of Athens, killing all 121 passengers andcrew members on board.

    Aug. 17: A jet carrying French tourists crashes in the mountains of western Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board.

    Aug. 24: A Peruvian Boeing 737-200 crashed in the Amazon jungle, killing at least 48 of 100 people aboard. Enditem