The crash of a London-bound Air India flight near Ahmedabad airport, which had 242 people on board, is not the first tragedy of its kind. ThePrint takes a look at other deadly crashes from the past.
1996 Charkhi Dadri
Disaster previously struck in 1996 – Saudia flight 763 set off from Delhi while Kazakhstan Airlines flight 1907 was “minutes away” from landing in Delhi. At 6:40 PM, the two collided mid-air as they flew over Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri. All 349 people on board were killed, according to an Indian Express report retracing the events.
Back in 1996, the Delhi airport functioned with only a single corridor while the others were reserved for the armed forces. The two aircraft were expected to fly in the same line in different directions, with one flying at 14,000 ft. and the other at 15,000 ft. But with only one primary radar, air traffic controller VK Dutta “depended on the pilots to know their altitudes.”
An inquiry into the crash resulted in the implementation of several safety recommendations – mainly separate air corridors and SSRs (secondary surveillance radars).
1978 Air India crash
Back in 1978, an Air India manned Boeing 747 flying from Mumbai “plunged into the Arabian sea” soon after takeoff. There were 213 passengers on board, and all were killed.
An American judge ruled that the main cause of the crash was the disoriented and negligent pilot who was “unfit to fly” and had been taking drugs for his diabetes. Negligence charges against Boeing were dropped. The case was being fought over the failure of an indicator “which shows whether the plane is in level flight or is diving, climbing or turning.
A Boeing spokesperson said that they were “pleased with the court’s decision.”
1985 Kanishka bombing
The bombing of Air India flight 182 by Canadian Sikh terrorists is considered the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history. All 329 people were killed due to the explosion of a bomb on a suitcase that was transferred on to the flight.
According to the BBC, only 131 bodies were retrieved from the sea. The majority of the victims were Canadian citizens.
2010 Air India Express crash
In 2010, an Air India Express aircraft flying from Dubai to Mangaluru overshot the runway, killing 158 people. There were a total of 166 people on board. The Boeing jet was less than three years old.
“One of the survivors, KP Manikutty, said the landing had at first appeared to be smooth and then the plane had crashed with no warning. Immediately on touching the ground, the aircraft jerked and, in a few moments, hit something,” a survivor told the BBC.
An aviation ministry official had previously been advised against using the Mangaluru runway – which has steep tops and is what is known as a tabletop runway.
Air India Express 2020 crash
Five years ago, a Boeing 737, which was bringing back stranded Indians during the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic crashed in Calicut – killing 21 people but leaving over 160 survivors. Both pilots were killed and 75 passengers were seriously injured, reported the BBC.
2021 MI-17V5 chopper crash
In 2021, an Indian Air Force MI-17V5 chopper crashed into a heavily “wooded” area in the Nilgiris, leaving only a single survivor. Among those who died were Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, and Lakhbinder Singh Lidder, a brigadier who was the CDS’ defence assistant. According to a report in The Hindu, an investigation found that the cause of the crash was “human error.”
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)