Worst Air Crashes-India

A few days back, one of the worst air disasters happened in India at Ahmedabad, where a Boeing Dreamliner Jet aeroplane crashed just after takeoff. This crash killed 241 out of 242 people on board, and  34 more people were also killed at the site where the plane crashed. No cause of the crash has come to light, as experts say that after analysing the contents of the black box, there is a chance that the exact cause of the crash will be known.

Here are the details of other passenger plane crashes/disasters which happened in India earlier:

1. On 7^th August 2020. Air India Express Flight 1344, a Boeing 737-800 flying the Dubai-Kozhikode route overshot the Runway on landing at Calicut International Airport, breaking into four pieces. There were 18 casualties and 172 survivors.
2. On 22^nd May 2010. Air India Express Flight 812, a Boeing 737-800 flying the Dubai-Mangalore route, overshot the Runway on landing at Mangalore International Airport, killing 158 people on board. There were eight survivors.
3. On 17^th July 2000. Alliance Air Flight 7412 crashed in a residential estate of Patna after the pilot lost control of the aircraft and stalled. Deaths included 55 people on board, along with five people on the ground. There were three survivors.
4. On 12^th November 1996. Saudi Arabia Airlines Flight 763 collided in mid-air with Kazakhastan Airlines Flight 1907, near Charkhi Dadri in Haryana. The cause was determine to be pilot error by Kazakhstan Airlines pilot. All 349 people on both the planes were killed, making it the deadliest mid-air collision in the aviation history. There were no survivors.
5. On 26^th April 1993. Indian Airlines Flight 491 crashed into a truck at the end of runway while taking off from Aurangabad (Maharshtra) airport. The cause of both pilot error and the failure of the aviation administration to control the highway traffic. Fifty five people were killed and 63 people survived.
6. On 16^th August 1991. Indian Airlines Flight 257 crashed on descent into Imphal due to pilot error killing all 69 people on board. There were no survivors.
7. On 14^th February 1990. Indian Airlines Flight 605 crashed on its final approach to Bangalore airport. The cause was pilot error. 92 people were killed with no survivors.
8. On 19^th October 1988. Indian Airlines Flight 113 crashed on its final approach to Ahmedabad Airport due to pilot error. 130 people perished with no survivors.
9. On 21^st June 1982. Air India Flight 403 crashed at Sahar International Airport in Bombay due to heavy weather. Two crew members and 15 passengers died, and 94 people survived.
10. On 1^st January 1978. Air India Flight 855 crashed off the coast of Bandra, Bombay, when the Captain became spatially disoriented after the failure of one of the flight instruments in the cockpit. All 213 people on board were killed.
11. On 12^th October 1976, Indian Airlines Flight 171 crashed at Bombay following an in-flight fire caused by by an uncontained engine failure killing all 95 people on board.
12. On 31^st May 1973. Indian Airlines Flight 440 crashed on approach to Palam Airport, Delhi, due to pilot error. 48 people were killed and 17 survived.
13. On 14^th June 1972. Japan airlines Flight 471 crashed near Palam airport, Delhi, killing 82 of 87 on board and there on ground. Japan claimed that false glide path signal caused the crash, while India claimed that pilot disregarded let-down procedures.
14. On 28^th July 1963. United Arab Airlines Flight 869 crashed off Bombay Airport killing all 63 on board. The cause was probably a loss of control in turbulence and bad weather.
15. On 7^th July 1962. Alitalia Flight 771 crashed into a hill northeast of Bombay while on approach. The accident was attributed to navigation error. All 94 on board were killed.
16. On 25^th May 1958. Dan-Air, Avro York crashed at Gurgaon following an in flight fire caused by engine failure, killing four of five on board.
17. 12^th July 1949. A KLM Lockheed, crashed near Ghatkopar in Bombay while attempting to land in bad weather, performing New Delhi-Bombay leg of schedule service from Jakarta, Indonesia to Amsterdam. All ten crew members, and 35 passengers died.

So from 1949 to 2025 ( 76 years) there were 18 passenger plane crashes in India.

Waiting for your views on this blog.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

16^th June 2025