Terrorism and War-Related Airplane Crashes Fast Facts Here’s a selected list of commercial airplane crashes caused by military acts or by terrorism. June 14, 1940 – Soviet bombers shoot down the Kaleva, a Finnish commercial plane traveling from Estonia to Finland, killing all nine on board. One passenger was Henry W. Antheil Jr., an American diplomat who was carrying diplomatic pouches from US legations in Estonia and Latvia. March 3, 1942 – Japanese aircraft shoot down a KNILM flight on its way to Broome, Australia. The plane crash-lands on the beach at Carnot Bay. Four people die. June 1, 1943 – British actor Leslie Howard is among 17 killed when German fighters shoot down a British Overseas Airways Corporation flight over the Bay of Biscay.