Vietnam Airlines Flight 831

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Vietnam Airlines Flight 831 was a Tupolev Tu-134 on the Hanoi–Bangkok route that crashed on 9 September 1988. There were 90 people on board (84 passengers and 6 crew). The plane crashed into a rice field about 6 kilometers north of Don Mueang International Airport near Bangkok while approaching to land. The exact cause is unknown, but investigators thought a lightning strike might have occurred, and the aircraft descended below the minimum safe altitude, resulting in a controlled flight into terrain. The crash exploded on impact, with debris spread over about 500 meters. 76 people died, including Vietnam’s Minister of Public Health Dang Hoi Xuan. Fourteen people survived, and 14 were injured. It was one of Thailand’s deadliest aviation accidents at the time.