How safe is flying? Are 2014's crashes one-off accidents or indicators of incipient problems in the aviation industry? A fortnight after AirAsia's flight QZ8501, carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members from Surabaya to Singapore, crashed into the Java Sea, the questions have got louder, the unease more evident. 

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Here are the 10 deadliest air travel disasters....

1. Tenerife Airport Disaster, 1977

Casualties: 583Airlines: KLM and Pan AmCause: Heavy fog, failure in communication and pilot error on part of KLM. 

2. Japan Airlines Flight 123, 1985Casualties: 520Cause: Crashed into the ridges of Mount Takamagahara due to mechanical failure 

3. Charkhi-Dadri mid-air collision, 1996Casualties: 349Airlines: Kazakhstan Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines.Cause: The mid-air collision, which took place over the village of Charkhi-Dadri near New Delhi, was the result of an error by the Kazakhstan Airlines pilot. 

4. Ermenonville Air Disaster, 1974Casualties: 346Airline: Turkish Airlines Flight 981Cause: Crashed when the cables necessary to control the aircraft were severed due to the decompression caused by the poorly-secured cargo door.

 March 4, 1974: People at the scene in Forest of Ermenonville, where a Turkish Airline DC-10 crashed killing all the passengers on board

5. Kanishka air disaster, 1985Casualties: 329Airline: Air IndiaCause: Terror attack/bomb on board 

6. Saudia Flight 163, 1980Casualties: 301Airline: SaudiaCause: Pilot error, fire in the cargo hold 

7. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, 2014Casualties: 298Cause: Airline shootdown by pro-Russian separatists in Torez, Ukraine

The debries of the MH17 flight

8. Iran Air Flight 655, 1988Casualties: 290Cause: The plane was shot down by the USS Vincennes, a US Navy missile cruiser 

9. Iran Ilyushin II-76 crash, 2003Casualties: 275Airline: The Ilyushin II-76 aircraft was carrying personnel from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary GuardCause: Pilot error triggered by poor weather 

10. American Airlines flight 191, 1979Casualties: 271Cause: Engine detachment resulting from faulty maintenance, leading to loss of control just minutes after take off from Chicago's O'Hare Airport