Swissair Flight 316 crashes at Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece, killing 14.
Swissair Flight 316
On 7 October 1979, a Swissair DC-8 crashed while landing at Athens-Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece. Of the 154 passengers and crew on board, 14 were killed in the accident.
Ellinikon International Airport
Ellinikon International Airport, sometimes spelled Hellinikon, was an international airport that served Athens, Greece, for 63 years. Following its closure on 28 March 2001, it was replaced by the new Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos. The airport was located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south of Athens, and just west of Glyfada. It was named after the village of Elliniko, now a suburb of Athens. The airport had an official capacity of 11 million passengers per year, but served 13.5 million passengers during its last year of operations. A large portion of the site was converted into a stadium and sports facilities for the 2004 Olympic Games.
Athens
Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica region and is the southernmost capital on the European mainland. With its urban area's population numbering over 3.6 million, it is the eighth-largest urban area in the European Union (EU). The Municipality of Athens, which constitutes a small administrative unit of the entire urban area, had a population of 643,452 (2021) within its official limits, and a land area of 38.96 km2 (15.04 sq mi).
October 7
October 7 is the 280th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 85 days remain until the end of the year.