Plane tragedies 2014

2014 has been a deadly year so far with record air tragedies. Let's take a look at the recent cases of plane crashes, missing planes and the consequent loss of lives

March 8 2014: A Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a scheduled international passenger flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared after losing contact with air traffic control less than an hour after takeoff. Malaysia Airlines later reported the flight missing. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was carrying 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 15 countries. Despite intensive efforts which has been dubbed as the most expensive in history, there's no sign of any flight debri or a crash site. The mystery continues.

July 17 2014: Malaysia Airlines 17 (Boeing 777-200ER), was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine. All 298 people on board were killed. There's no clarity on who fired the weapon. Intelligence are examining the data to see if pro-Moscow separatists on Ukraine were responsible for the ghastly tragedy.

July 23 2014: A TransAsia Airways flight GE222 turboprop plane crashed on its second attempt at landing during a thunderstorm on an island off Taiwan, killing 48 people and setting buildings on fire. According to the airways, 10 people survived the tragedy.

July 24 2014: an Air Algerie flight en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers which had 110 passengers and six crew members on board crashed. The plane disappeared from radar over northern Mali after heavy rains were reported, according to the plane's owner and government officials in France and Burkina Faso. Air navigation services lost track of the MD-83 about 50 minutes after takeoff from Ougadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.