The worst air disasters in history

Air transport is safer than ever, but there are some astounding stories behind its worst tragedies.

As the world tries to uncover details surrounding the fate of Malaysian Airline Flight 17, shot down near the Ukraine - Russian border, air travel is in the spotlight – but the truth is it’s safer than it ever was.

There have been more 9,000 deaths on commercial flights since the beginning of the century - more if we include people on the ground - but air travel has been getting progressively safer.