Timeline: Major plane crashes in Europe

Gendarmerie and French mountain rescue teams arrive near the site of the Germanwings plane crash in the French Alps. Photograph: by Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images

July 17th, 2014: Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashes near Grabove in eastern Ukraine. The 298 people on board were killed on the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Investigators are yet to definitively establish the cause. The west and Ukraine said a Russian missile launcher was used to shoot it down. However, Russia denies responsibility and has different theories on the crash.

November 17th, 2013: Tatarstan Airlines Boeing 737 crashed on arriving at Kazan in Russia. All 44 passengers and six crew on board were killed. Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement the plane "hit the runway and burst into flames".

April 10th, 2010: A Tupolev 154 plane, which was carrying Polish president Lech Kaczynski and senior government officials, crashed as it approached Smolensk airport in Russia. More than 80 people on board were killed.

June 1st, 2009: An Air France Airbus 330 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic ocean on a stormy night. All 228 people on board were killed. French investigators reported a combination of faulty sensors and mistakes by pilots as the cause of the accident.

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September 14th, 2008: A Boeing 737-500 crashed on landing outside the central Russian city of Perm. All the 88 passengers and crew members on board were killed. It was reported the flight caught fire mid-air.

August 20th, 2008: Spanair jet crashed as it tried to take off at Madrid Barajas airport. 154 people on flight JK5022 were killed and 18 injured. A spanish Civil Aviation Authority's accident report said mistakes by the crew and the failure of a warning system caused the crash.

August 22nd, 2006: A Tupolev 154 plane with 170 people on board crashed north of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. At an altitude of 36,000 feet the crew reported an emergency.

July 9th, 2006: A Russian S7 Airbus A310 overshot the runway and crashed while landing at Irkutsk airport in Siberia.A total of 124 people died but more than 60 survived.

May 3rd, 2006: An Armavia Airbus A-320 crashed into the Black Sea near Sochi. All 113 people on board were killed.

Rachel Flaherty

Rachel Flaherty

Rachel Flaherty is Digital Features Editor and journalist with The Irish Times