Civilian • On 2 January 1962,
Iran Air Flight 123, a
Douglas DC-3 on a cargo flight, crashed while attempting to take-off from Kabul. During the take-off roll the captain noticed a malfunction in the number 1 engine followed by the aircraft veering to the left of the runway. To avoid a crash, the captain pulled the aircraft up into the air, but while attempting to turn the aircraft away from the airport, a wing struck the ground followed by a crash. Both crew members survived. • On 15 January 1969, Douglas DC-3 YA-AAB of
Ariana Afghan Airlines was damaged beyond economic repair in a ground collision with
Douglas DC-6 YA-DAN, also of Ariana. • On 21 September 1984, a
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 of
Ariana Afghan Airlines was hit by explosive bullets while on approach to Kabul Airport. All passengers and crew survived the incident. • On 12 June 1990, an
Ilyushin Il-76 of
Aeroflot was struck by a missile while flying at causing two engines to shut down. The aircraft made a forced landing in Kabul with no flaps on an unpaved runway. All 10 crew survived. • On 29 May 1992, an Ariana Afghan Airlines
Tupolev Tu-154 was struck by a missile while landing at Kabul. The nose of the aircraft was damaged but it landed safely. All passengers and crew survived. • On 19 March 1998, a
Boeing 727-200 of Ariana Afghan Airlines
crashed into the Sharki Baratayi mountain while descending into Kabul. All 10 crew and 35 passengers on board died. • On 3 February 2005,
Kam Air Flight 904, a
Boeing 737-200 operated by
Phoenix Aviation, vanished from radar screens on approach to Kabul in poor weather, sparking a massive Afghan National Army search operation for the 96 passengers and eight crew. The wreckage of the aircraft was found two days later in the mountains east of Kabul, all 105 people on board were killed. • On 17 May 2010, all contact with
Pamir Airways Flight 112, an
Antonov An-24 operated by
Pamir Airways, was lost ten minutes after departure from
Kunduz Airport. After search efforts lasting four days, wreckage from the flight was located from Kabul. All 39 passengers and five crew on board the flight died. • On 12 October 2010,
Transafrik International Flight 662, a
Lockheed L-100 Hercules crashed into a mountain on approach to the airport. All 8 crew members were killed. • On 8 May 2014, Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 312, a
Boeing 737-400, ran off the runway after landing at the airport. Flight 312 originated in Delhi, India and operated on a scheduled passenger service to Kabul. On landing the aircraft overshot runway 29, coming to rest on uneven terrain. The aircraft was heavily damaged and six passengers were slightly injured.
Military • On 11 March 1985, an
Antonov An-30 of the
Soviet Air Force was on an aerial photography flight in the Kabul area south of the Panjshir Valley. Upon returning to the airport, the aircraft was struck by a Strela missile. The captain tried to make an emergency landing at
Bagram Airbase but was too high. A fire ignited by the missile strike then reached the
aileron controls causing the pilots to lose control; three of the five crew members evacuated the aircraft safely, but the other two crew members died. • On 29 November 1986, a Soviet Air Force
Antonov An-26 was hit by a
Stinger missile while climbing out of Kabul. The aircraft was carrying several tons of
S-24 rockets and 400 kg of explosives to
Jalalabad in Afghanistan. All seven crew members perished. • On 21 October 1987, a Soviet Air Force
Antonov An-12BK collided with a
Mil Mi-24 helicopter while taking off in poor visibility. The aircraft was heading for the capital city of then
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic,
Tashkent; 18 of the 19 passengers and crew died. • On 21 December 1987, a Soviet Air Force Antonov An-26 was hit by a Stinger missile while circling to a safe altitude shortly after take-off. The number one engine was hit, puncturing the fuel tank. Smoke entered the cabin. All six crew members parachuted out; the captain jumped too close to the ground to open his parachute and died upon impact. • On 24 June 1988, a Soviet Air Force Antonov An-26 was hit by bullets fired from
Mujahideen rebels. The aircraft crashed in Kabul, killing one of the six crew members on board. • On 28 August 1992, a Soviet Air Force Ilyushin Il-76MD was hit by a renegade Mujahideen rocket while boarding Russian embassy staff. • On 5 August 2008, a
Lockheed C-130H Hercules of the
United Arab Emirates Air Force overran the runway upon landing in Kabul, causing a fire in the forward section of the aircraft. The aircraft was carrying aid to Afghanistan. All crew members survived. • On 16 August 2021, as a
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III of the
United States Air Force was taking off, crowds of people trying to escape the
2021 Taliban offensive were seen running alongside and clinging onto the aircraft. The aircraft lifted up into the air with people still holding on, with at least two dying after falling from the aircraft and an unknown number possibly crushed and killed by the landing gear retracting; human remains were found in the wheel well. The incident was widely reported in U.S. and international media.
Non-aircraft related • On 31 August 1984, Afghan
guerillas exploded a bomb at the airport where several
Aeroflot planes were picking up passengers, killing 28 people and wounding 350 others. • On 8 September 2009, at around 8:22 AM local time, a suicide bombing took place near the entrance of the airport's military base. • On 3 July 2014, Taliban fighters fired two rockets into the airport, destroying four helicopters. One of the four helicopters belonged to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. • On 29 January 2015, three American defense contractors and one Afghan national were killed by a gunman outside the airport in late evening local time. • On 17 May 2015, a suicide bombing by the Taliban near the entrance of the airport occurred, killing three and injuring eighteen. • On 26 August 2021, more than 185 people were
killed, including at least 13 U.S. service members and 90 Afghans, at the Kabul airport when two
ISIS-K • On 29 August 2021, smoke was seen rising from two explosions which occurred near the airport, one of which killed a child. Explosions occurred hours after U.S. President
Joe Biden warned of another terrorist attack in Kabul. • On 30 August 2021, US troops used thermite bombs to disable several counter rocket, artillery and mortar systems used to protect the airfield from incoming ISIS-K fired rockets. ==See also==