The following is a list of accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 family of jet airliners, including the Boeing 737 Original (-100/-200), Boeing 737 Classic (-300/-400/-500), Boeing 737 Next Generation (-600/-700/-800/-900) and Boeing 737 MAX (-8/-9) series of aircraft. , there have been a total of 529 aviation accidents and incidents involving all 737 aircraft (not all are notable enough for inclusion on this list), which have resulted in a total of 5,779 fatalities and 234 hull losses.

The 737 first entered airline service in February 1968; the 10,000th aircraft entered service in March 2018. The first accident involving a 737 was on July 19, 1970, when a was damaged beyond repair during an aborted takeoff, with no fatalities; the first fatal accident occurred on December 8, 1972, when United Airlines Flight 553 crashed while attempting to land, with 45 (43 on board plus 2 on the ground) fatalities; and, , Lion Air Flight 610, a 737 MAX 8, has the most fatalities aboard a 737 when it crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff on October 29, 2018, with 189 fatalities.

737 Original (-100/-200)

1970s

July 19, 1970 – United Air Lines Flight 611, a new registered as N9005U, named City of Bristol, was damaged beyond economical repair after an aborted take off at Philadelphia International Airport. During take off, a loud "bang" was heard, and the aircraft veered right. The captain aborted the take off, and the aircraft ran off the end of the runway, stopping 1,634 feet past its end, in a field. There were no fatalities. This was the first, non-fatal accident involving a 737."ASN Aircraft incident Boeing 737-222 Philadelphia International Airport, PA (PHL)" Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved: July 29, 2018. July 20, 1970 – Condor Flight 316, a registered as D-ABEL, collided on approach to Reus Airport with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee. While the 737 was able to land, the Piper went down, killing all three occupants, making this the first fatal accident involving a 737."ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-130 D-ABEL Reus, Spain Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved: October 26, 2023 December 31, 1970 – At Washington National Airport, a in preparation for a United Air Lines flight scheduled at 12:35 pm suffered a fire when its oxygen supply system was being recharged. No passengers were onboard and nobody was injured. The cabin and fuselage were damaged in the fire. July 5, 1972 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710, a en route to Los Angeles was hijacked by two men who demanded $800,000 and that they be taken to the Soviet Union. In San Francisco, the aircraft was stormed and the two hijackers died along with one passenger.

December 8, 1972 – United Air Lines Flight 553, a registered as N9031U, crashed while attempting to land at Chicago Midway International Airport after pilot error allowed the plane to stall. Two people on the ground and 43 of the 61 passengers and crew on board died. This was the first fatal hull loss of a 737."ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-222 N9031U Chicago-Midway, IL." Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved: July 19, 2010. May 31, 1973 – Indian Airlines Flight 440, a registered as VT-EAM, hit power lines and crashed on approach to Palam International Airport in New Delhi, India. The cause was determined to be crew error in letting the aircraft descend below glidepath. 48 of the 65 passengers and crew on board died. March 31, 1975 – Western Airlines Flight 470, a registered as N4527W, overshot a runway coated with snow at Casper/Natrona County International Airport in Casper, Wyoming in the United States. Four of the 99 aboard were injured, and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. October 13, 1977 – Lufthansa Flight 181, A registered as D-ABCE, named Landshut, was hijacked by four Palestinians, who demanded the release of seven Red Army Faction members in West German prisons and $15,000,000. The captain was fatally shot. On October 17, members of West Germany's GSG-9 stormed the aircraft and killed three of the hijackers, capturing the other. December 4, 1977 – Malaysian Airline System Flight 653, a registered as 9M-MBD, crashed following a phugoid oscillation that saw the aircraft diving into a swamp after both its pilots were shot following a hijacking attempt. The crash happened in the southern Malaysian state of Johor. A total of 93 passengers and 7 crew died. February 11, 1978 – Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a registered as C-FPWC, crashed while attempting to land at Cranbrook Airport, British Columbia, Canada. The aircraft crashed after thrust reversers did not fully stow following a go-around that was executed in order to avoid a snowplow. Four of the crew members and 38 of the 44 passengers died in the accident.February 11, 1978, Cranbrook, BC, Canada, Pacific Western Airlines, Flight 314, Boeing B-737-275 (sic), C-FPWC Plane Crash Info April 26, 1979 – An Indian Airlines was damaged by a bomb that detonated in the forward lavatory. The aircraft made a flapless landing in what was then known as Madras, now Chennai, India.

1980s

November 4, 1980 – a TAAG Angola Airlines registered as D2-TAA landed short of the runway at Benguela Airport in Angola, which was followed by the collapse of the landing gear and the aircraft sliding some 900 meters afterwards; a fire broke out in the right wing but there were no reported fatalities. The aircraft caught fire again during recovery operations the next day and was written off. May 2, 1981 – Aer Lingus Flight 164, a , was hijacked en route from Dublin Airport, Ireland to London's Heathrow Airport, United Kingdom. While on approach to Heathrow, about five minutes before the flight was due to land, a 55-year-old Australian man went into the toilet and doused himself in petrol. He then went to the cockpit and demanded that the aircraft be diverted to Le Touquet – Côte d'Opale Airport in France, and refuel there for a flight to Tehran, Iran. Upon landing at Le Touquet and after an eight-hour standoff (during which time 11 of 112 hostages were released), French special forces stormed the aircraft and apprehended hijacker Lawrence Downey. No shots were fired and nobody was injured. August 22, 1981 – Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103, a registered as B-2603, broke apart in mid-air and crashed 14 minutes after taking off from Taipei Songshan Airport. All 104 passengers and 6 crew died."Airliner that crashed in Taiwan, killing 110, had pressure snags." Associated Press at The New York Times. Sunday August 23, 1981. Late City Final Edition, Section 1, Page 3, Column 1. Retrieved on January 6, 2012. January 13, 1982 – Air Florida Flight 90, a registered as N62AF, crashed in a severe snowstorm immediately after takeoff from Washington National Airport, hitting the 14th Street Bridge and fell into the ice-covered Potomac River in Washington, D.C. All but five of the 74 passengers and five crew members were killed; four motorists on the bridge also died."Full NTSB Accident Report of Air Florida Flight 90." (PDF, 140 pages) amelia.db.erau.edu. Retrieved: September 3, 2010. May 25, 1982 – VASP Flight 234, a Boeing registered as PP-SMY, made a hard landing and touched down on its nose gear first at Brasília in rainy conditions. The gear collapsed and the aircraft skidded off the runway breaking in two. Two passengers out of 118 occupants died.{"Accident description PP-SMY." Aviation Safety Network, May 30, 2011. August 26, 1982 – Southwest Air Lines Flight 611, a registered as JA8444 overran the runway at Ishigaki Airport in Japan and was destroyed. There were no fatalities but some were injured during the emergency evacuation. March 27, 1983 – a LAM Mozambique Airlines registered as C9-BAB suffered an undercarriage failure after landing some 400 meters (1,300 ft) short of the runway at Quelimane Airport. There were no fatalities. July 11, 1983 – TAME Ecuador Flight 173, a registered as HC-BIG, crashed while attempting to land at Mariscal Lamar Airport; all 111 passengers and 8 crew on board died. The cause of the accident was a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) as a result of the pilot's inexperience with the aircraft. It remains the deadliest aviation accident in Ecuadorean history. after a radio station reported witnesses to a mid-air explosion. September 23, 1983 – Gulf Air Flight 771, a registered as A4O-BK, suffered a bomb explosion in the baggage compartment causing it to stall and crash in the United Arab Emirates. All 5 crew and 107 passengers died. November 8, 1983 – TAAG Angola Airlines Flight 462 stalled and crashed shortly after taking off from Lubango Mukanka Airport in Angola resulting in the deaths of all its 130 occupants (126 passengers and 4 crew) on board. Local guerilla force UNITA claimed it had brought the aircraft down with a Surface-to-air missile. February 9, 1984 – A TAAG Angola Airlines registered as D2-TBV, that departed from Albano Machado Airport operating a scheduled passenger service, suffered hydraulic problems following an explosion in the rear of the aircraft and returned to the airport of departure for an emergency landing. The aircraft touched down fast and overran the runway. March 22, 1984 – Pacific Western Airlines Flight 501, a regularly scheduled flight that caught fire in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Five people were seriously injured and 22 suffered minor injuries, but there were no fatalities. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair. August 30, 1984 – Cameroon Airlines Flight 786, a (registration TJ-CBD) caught fire as the aircraft was taxiing out for takeoff at Douala International Airport in Douala, Cameroon. 107 of 109 passengers and seven crew were reported to have survived. November 23, 1985 – EgyptAir Flight 648, a (registration SU-AYH) was hijacked by 3 Palestinian men en route to Cairo International Airport from Athens. During the first few minutes of the hijacking, a sky marshal fatally shot a hijacker before being severely wounded. The plane was ordered to land in Malta by the hijackers. Later, Egyptian commandos raided the aircraft. During the raid, 60 passengers died, including 1 hijacker, and 38 survived, including 1 hijacker. June 21, 1985 – Braathens SAFE Flight 139, a was hijacked at the Trondheim Airport in Værnes, Norway. The aircraft was stormed and the hijacker arrested. August 22, 1985 – British Airtours Flight 28M, a , aborted its takeoff at Manchester Airport in Manchester, England, after it caught fire due to a crack in one of the combustors of the left Pratt & Whitney JT8D-15 engine. Of the 137 passengers and crew on board, 55 died, most due to toxic smoke inhalation. Research following the accident investigation led to many innovations in air safety, including a redesign of the 737's galley area. January 28, 1986 – VASP Flight 210, a , tried to take-off from a taxiway at São Paulo-Guarulhos Airport. The take-off was aborted, but the aircraft overran the pavement, collided with a dyke and broke in two. The weather was foggy. There was one fatality. 16 February 1986 – China Airlines Flight 2265 – a Boeing operating a charter flight went missing after executing a go-around after touching down at Penghu Airport, Taiwan. It was discovered at March 10 on the seabed, 19 kilometres (12 mi; 10 nmi) north of the island. All six passengers and seven crew members were confirmed dead. October 15, 1986 – Iran Air registered as EP-IRG was attacked by Iraqi aircraft. Passengers were disembarking at the time of the attack. According to Iranian authorities, some C-130 Hercules aircraft were also destroyed. Three occupants died. December 25, 1986 – Iraqi Airways Flight 163, a that was hijacked and crashed, catching fire near Arar in Saudi Arabia. There were 106 people on board, and 60 passengers and 3 crew members died.