The World - News from Jan. 27, 1987

Attacks by terrorists, guerrillas and warplanes caused more than 25% of all aircraft deaths in 1986, making “deliberate disasters” as serious a threat to air safety as human or mechanical error, a leading British aviation magazine said. Flight International magazine said 607 people were killed in airline accidents worldwide last year, while 219 others were killed in acts of terrorism or sabotage or in military attacks on civilian aircraft. The magazine noted that the accidental death toll was the second lowest figure in the 1980s, adding that the year was generally “safe, but for terrorism.”