The pilots of a Sukhoi Superjet, ignoring alerts from the terrain warning system, crashed the aircraft into Mount Salak in Indonesia, resulting in the deaths of all 45 people on board.
Pope Benedict XVI began the beatification process for his predecessor Pope John Paul II, waiving the standard five years required after the nominee's death.
An underground methane explosion occurred at the Westray Mine in Plymouth, Nova Scotia, killing all 26 Canadian coal miners who were working at the time.
Prominent Iranian Jew Habib Elghanian was executed after having been convicted by a revolutionary tribunal of various charges, triggering a mass exodus of Jews from Iran.