Indian Airlines

Indian Airlines B-737 aircraft VT-EAH was operating scheduled flight IC113 (Bombay - Ahmedabad sector) on 19-10-1988. There were 135 occupants on board including 6 crew members. Aircraft contacted Ahmedabad Approach Control at 0620LT. Ahmedabad weather as per Metar of 0540LT was passed to the aircraft and again at 0625LT (speci) of 0610LT was passed to the aircraft and then visibility has been reduced from 6 km to 3 km. Clearance to descend to FL150 was given at 0632LT and the aircraft was further cleared to FL55, 25 DME at 0636LT. At 0641LT, the aircraft was advised to report over Ahmedabad VOR and 'Speci' of 0640LT was also transmitted to the aircraft as per the same the winds were calm, visibility 2 km in haze and was 1010. QNH was correctly read back by the aircraft. The pilot decided to carry localiser-DME approach for runway 23 and reported overhead Ahmedabad. The aircraft went outbound and reported turning inbound. This was the last transmission from the aircraft and thereafter contact with the ATC was lost at 0650:53. The aircraft was found crashed at a distance of 2,540 meters from the beginning of runway 23 on the extended centre line of the runway in a paddy field at about 0653LT. Out of 135 persons on board, 133 received fatal injuries. The remaining two were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed due to post impact fire.

Indian Airlines flight IC422 was a domestic service from Srinagar to Delhi via Jammu and Chandigarh, India. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-200, landed gear up on runway 10 at Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport. The left engine then caught fire due to a fuel leak from ruptured fuel lines and a broken fuel control unit. The fire was quickly put out by fire services. All 134 occupants evacuated safely.

During taxiing for takeoff, the commander gave controls to copilot for takeoff. During takeoff roll, the commander and the copilot sighted a large bird towards the right hand side and the commander told the copilot to continue with takeoff. The copilot reportedly saw another large bird on the runway centreline when the aircraft speed was around 150 knots. The copilot rotated the aircraft and when the aircraft attained 5 to 8° nose up attitude, a loud noise was heard from the right side followed by severe vibration. The commande took over the controls from the copilot at this stage and initiated action to abort the takeoff. Reverse thrust and wheel brakes were applied but the aircraft could not be stopped on the runway and rolled over to kutcha ground. There was no fire but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. All 196 occupants were evacuated, among them 14 were slightly injured.

The aircraft swung to the right when the instructor simulated a no. 2 engine failure after touchdown during a training flight. The trainee and instructor were not able to regain directional control. The trainee then tried to rotate the aircraft although no VR speed call had been made. The airplane did not become airborne and the instructor took over control. He tried to add power on the no. 2 engine, but the propeller auto-feathered. The aircraft ran off the runway and crashed into an airport boundary wall.

The aircraft departed Bangalore for flight IC557 to Mangalore. After the aircraft became airborne, Mangalore weather was passed to the aircraft indicating deterioration in weather with conditions below minima. The aircraft arrived near Mangalore uneventfully and ATC informed that it was raining and the visibility was 1,000 metres. Therefore, the commander decided to hold the aircraft. A few minutes later, ATC informed that the visibility had improved to 2,000 meters and clouds were 4/8 at 700 feet. Thereafter, the aircraft was instructed to descend to 3,550 feet. Having sighted the runway, the captain turned right to position the aircraft for a left-hand downwind leg of the runway. However, ATC cautioned that the south of the runway was full of low cloud. Therefore, the aircraft took a left-hand circuit for landing. The aircraft landed almost on the middle of the runway at high speed, under adverse weather conditions. The aircraft could not be stopped within the available field length. Its nose wheel was sheared off and the aircraft continued skidding forward and nosed over into a valley beyond the airport plateau and came to stop against two huge boulders on the steep rocky terrain. The aircraft was substantially damaged. Five passengers and two cabin crew received minor injuries. There was a fire under the left-hand engine/wing which was extinguished.

The aircraft crash landed immediately after takeoff about 1-1/2 km southwest of Tirupati Airport. Soon after takeoff, when the aircraft had attained a height of 245 feet above ground level, it encountered heavy rain and the aircraft started losing height with a drop in speed. As this phase of flight flaps were retracted fully inadvertently. In the following 18 seconds, the aircraft sank to ground level and struck the ground in a tail down attitude and crashed. Two crew members received serious injuries and two received minor injuries. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

While approaching Bombay Airport from the southeast by night, the crew encountered technical problems when the airplane struck the slope of Mt Kisoli located 30 km southeast from Bombay Airport. SAR operations were hampered by lack of visibility and heavy rain falls. The wreckage was found few hours later and all 45 occupants were killed.

The flight for 35 minutes after takeoff from Trivandrum Airport was normal and uneventful. After receiving clearance from Madras, the aircraft commenced descent from a cruising altitude of 27,000 feet. Soon thereafter, a loud explosion was heard from the forward lavatory area. The cockpit and front portion of cabin were filled with smoke and cabin lights went off. There was completed instrument and electrical failure. The aircraft with undercarriage down made a flapless approach and touched down at a distance of 2,500 feet beyond threshold of runway 25 at Madras Airport. The aircraft overshot the runway, ploughing through kutcha grassy field and nullah. After the accident came to a halt, the passengers evacuated through forward and rear doors. The aircraft was destroyed due to inflight explosion and subsequent post crash overrun. The fire started on starboard side after the aircraft came to a halt and damaged the starboard wing. 14 occupants were injured.

After liftoff from runway 09 at Hyderabad-Begumpet Airport, during initial climb, the captain noticed severe vibrations as the leading edges were not properly deployed. After the undercarriage were raised, the captain decided to land back. The airplane belly landed, slid for about 940 meters, overran, struck a perimeter fence and came to rest in flames in a grassy area. The aircraft was totally destroyed by a post crash fire. 31 passengers were injured while 100 other occupants escaped unhurt. A passenger as well as three people cutting grass near the boundary fence were killed.

Shortly after takeoff from runway 27 at Bombay-Santa Cruz Airport, while climbing, the captain contacted ATC and declared an emergency after the right engine exploded and caught fire. The crew was cleared to return for an approach to runway 09 and initiated a circuit. On final approach, at a height of 300 feet, the airplane entered a nose down angle of 45° then crashed in a huge explosion about one km short of runway 09. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 95 occupants have been killed.