Indian Airlines - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

1960s

• On 15 November 1961, Vickers Viscount VT-DIH was damaged beyond economic repair when the co-pilot retracted the undercarriage during landing at Ratmalana Airport, Colombo, Ceylon.

• On 11 September 1963, Vickers Viscount VT-DIO crashed 51 kilometres (32 mi) south of Agra, killing all 18 people on board.

• On 18 February 1969, Douglas DC-3 VT-CJH crashed on take-off from Jaipur – Sanganer Airport on a scheduled passenger flight. The aircraft was overloaded and take-off was either downwind or with a crosswind. All 30 people on board survived.

1970s

• On 29 August 1970: a Fokker F27 flew into high terrain near Silchar shortly after takeoff, killing the five crew members and 34 passengers.

• On 30 January 1971: a Fokker F27 on a scheduled flight from Srinagar to Jammu was hijacked to Lahore by Ashraf and Hashim Qureshi, two Kashmiri terrorists. Passengers were returned to India on 2 February, but the hijackers destroyed the aircraft. India and Pakistan, blaming each other's intelligence services, each ban the other country's overflights and India-Pakistan flights until 1976.

• On 9 August 1971, Vickers Viscount VT-DIX was damaged beyond economic repair when it overran the runway at Jaipur Airport. The aircraft was landed with a tailwind on a wet runway.

• On 9 December 1971: a Hawker Siddeley HS 748, near Chinnamanur was descending into Madurai when it flew into high terrain about 50 mi (80 km) from the airport, killing the four crew members and all 17 passengers. The accident occurred in reduced visibility during daylight hours.

• On 11 August 1972: a Fokker F27, at New Delhi lost altitude and crashed after aborting a landing. The four crew members and the 14 passengers were killed.

• On 31 May 1973: Flight 440, (registered VT-EAM), crashed and burned during landing at New Delhi, killing five of the seven crew and 43 of the 58 passengers.

• On 12 October 1976: Flight 171, a Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle, had its right engine catch fire shortly after takeoff from Bombay. The crew attempted to return, but fuel flow to the engine was not stopped. When the fire spread through the fuselage and the hydraulic system failed, the aircraft controls failed before landing. All six crew members and their 89 passengers were killed.

• On 4 August 1979: a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 aircraft was approaching Bombay airport at night and in poor weather when it flew into high terrain approximately 6 mi (9.7 km) from the airport, killing the four crew and their 41 passengers.

1980s

• On 10 May 1980: a Boeing 737-2A8, en route near Rampurhat experienced severe turbulence that killed two of the 132 passengers.

• On 19 August 1981, Flight 557, a HAL 748 VT-DXF overshot the 5,783 feet (1,763 m) runway at Mangalore International Airport in wet weather. The aircraft came to a halt just beyond the runway edge. While there were no fatalities, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and was written off. One of the passengers on board was Veerappa Moily, the then Finance Minister of Karnataka.

• On 19 October 1988: Flight 113, a Boeing 737 (registered VT-EAH) hit an electric mast 5 mi (8.0 km) out on approach to Ahmedabad in poor visibility, killing the six crew members and all but one of the 129 passengers.

1990s

• On 14 February 1990, Flight 605, an Airbus A320, crashed on final approach at HAL Airport, Bangalore. 92 people on board were killed and 54 survived.

• On 16 August 1991, Flight 257, Boeing 737 (registered VT-EFL)Indian Airlines Flight 257 crashed on its descent into Imphal, killing all 69 occupants on August 16, 1991. The flight operating on the Calcutta-Imphal sector crashed into Thangjing hills, about 20 nautical miles (40 km) south-west of the Imphal airport. The aircraft had taken off from Calcutta and it began a descent into Imphal airport at around with the visibility at that time being seven kilometers. However, the aircraft lost contact with Imphal airport on the Instrument Landing System. The search and rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather conditions and a slushy terrain. The probable cause of accident was attributed to an "error on the part of the Pilot-in-Command in not adhering to the operational flight.

• On 26 April 1993: Flight 491, Boeing 737 (registered VT-ECQ) The heavily laden aircraft started its takeoff from Aurangabad's runway 09 in hot and humid temperatures. After lifting off almost at the end of the runway, it impacted heavily with a lorry on a highway at the end of runway. The left main landing gear, left engine bottom cowling and thrust reverser impacted the left side of the truck at a height of nearly seven feet from the level of the road. Thereafter the aircraft hit the high tension electric wires nearly 3 km North-East of the runway and hit the ground. 63 Injuries 55 Fatalities.

• On 15 November 1993: Indian Airlines Flight 440, an Airbus A300 (registered VT-EDV)executed a missed approach at Hyderabad's Begumpet Airport due to poor visibility, but the flaps failed to retract. After trying to solve the problem while flying in the vicinity of Hyderabad, the crew eventually diverted the aircraft to Chennai. The delay in diverting, and the need to fly slower due to the extended flaps, resulted in the aircraft running out of fuel on the way. The aircraft force-landed in a paddy field and was damaged beyond repair.There were no Fatalities on board.

• On 24 December 1999: Flight 814, an Airbus A300B2-101 (registered VT-EDW) was hijacked just after taking off from Kathmandu, Nepal to Delhi. The plane flew around different points in the subcontinent and finally landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, as officials of the government of India and the Taliban negotiated. One passenger was killed and some were released. On 31 December 1999, the rest of the hostages on Flight 814 were freed in exchange for the release of Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Maulana Masood Azhar.