Air India Fleet - Accidents and Incidents

Accidents and Incidents

On 23 January 2013, the Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC) announced that Air India had the third worst safety record among 60 international airlines that were reviewed. Ten Air India flights have fatally crashed, including those due to terrorist attacks. Air India has a record of 6.82 fatal events per million flights.

1950s

• On 3 November 1950 Air India Flight 245 Malabar Princess a Lockheed L-749 Constellation (registered VT-CQP) carrying 48 people (40 passengers and 8 crew), flying on the Bombay-Cairo-Geneva-London route, crashed on Mont Blanc, France, killing all on board.
• On 11 April 1955 Kashmir Princess a Lockheed L-749A Constellation registered (VT-DEP) carrying 19 people (11 passengers and 8 crew) was bombed in midair, killing 16 of the 19 on board.
• On 19 July 1959 Rani of Aera a Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation (registered VT-DIN) carrying 46 people (39 passengers and 7 crew) approached Santacruz Airport in conditions of poor visibility due to rain. The captain was using an altimeter with the barometric pressure set at 29.92". An overshoot was delayed and the aircraft crashed and suffered damage beyond repair. There were no fatalities.

1960s

• On 24 January 1966 Air India Flight 101 Kanchenjunga a Boeing 707–420 (registered VT-DMN) carrying 117 people (106 passengers and 11 crew) crashed on Mont Blanc, France, on the border between France and Italy, killing all on board. Among the dead was the noted Indian scientist, Homi J. Bhabha.

1970s

• On 1 January 1978 Air India Flight 855 Emperor Ashoka a Boeing 747-237B (registered VT-EBD) crashed into the Arabian Sea after takeoff from Sahar International Airport (now Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport) in Mumbai, killing all on board (213 persons; 190 passengers, 23 crew).

1980s

• On 21 June 1982 Air India Flight 403 Gouri Shankar a Boeing 707–420 (registered VT-DJJ) carrying 99 passengers and 12 crew from Kuala Lumpur International Airport via Madras (now Chennai) crashed at Sahar International Airport after a heavy landing during a rainstorm. The fuselage exploded after starting a late go-around. Two crew members and 15 passengers were killed.
• On 23 June 1985 Air India Flight 182 Emperor Kanishka a Boeing 747-237B (registered VT-EFO) was blown up in mid-air, mid-flight by a suitcase-bomb planted by Babbar Khalsa Terrorists allegedly as revenge for the Indian Government's operation on the Golden Temple on June 1984. The flight was on the first leg on its Montreal-London-Delhi-Bombay flight when it exploded off the coast of Cork, Ireland. The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. All 307 passengers and 22 crew on board died. After this incident Air India suspended all services to Montreal.

1990s

• On 7 May 1990 Air India Flight 132 Emperor Vikramaditya a Boeing 747-237B (registered VT-EBO) flying on the London-Delhi-Bombay route and carrying 215 people (195 passengers and 20 crew) touched down at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport after a flight from London's Heathrow Airport. On application of reverse thrust, a failure of the no. 1 engine pylon to wing attachment caused this engine to tilt nose down. Hot exhaustion gases caused a fire on the left wing. There were no fatalities but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off.

2010s

• 7 April 2013, 08:55, During a flight Bangkok-Delhi with 166 passengers. 30 minutes later the first officer (co-pilot) excused himself cockpit for a bathroom break and got a flight attendant to occupy his seat. A few minutes later the Captain also left the cockpit after he spent a few minutes to teach the now, two flight attendants on how to operate the aircraft. The pilot and co-pilot then left the flight attendants to operate the aircraft by themselves while they them self took a 40 minute nap in business class. However one of the flight attendants shut off the autopilot by mistake and thus endangered the lives of everyone on board and forced the pilots to rush back. All four were derostered and later suspended. A member of a government-appointed aviation safety panel, blamed the lackadaisical attitude of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the increase in air safety violations.