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Revision as of 18:04, 4 November 2005 by Gaius Cornelius (talk | contribs) (Update punctuation. See WP:WPPun.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Plane and Flight Information
November 12, 1996
1. Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 763, a 747 registration number HZ-AIH operating Delhi-Dhahran with 312 persons aboard (289 passengers and 23 crew members).
2. Air Kazakhstan Flight 1907, an IL-76 registration number UN-76435 operating Chimkent, Kazakhstan-Delhi with 37 persons aboard (27 passengers and 10 crew members).
History and Cause
Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 763 was operating on a regularly scheduled flight from Delhi-Dhahran, departing at 6:32 pm local time. At the time Air Kazakhstan Flight 1907, an IL-76 cargo jet was descending to land at Delhi from Chimkent. Flight 1907 was cleared to descend to 15,000 feet about 74 miles from the airport while at the same time Flight 763 was cleared to climb to 14,000 feet on the same airway as Flight 1907 but in the opposite direction. About 8 minutes later, around 6:40 pm, Flight 1907 reported having reached 15,000 feet. At this time the controller advised the flight:
"Identified traffic 12 o'clock, reciprocal Saudia Boeing 747, 14 miles. Report in sight."
When the controller called for Flight 1907 he got no reply and again warned of the 747's distance. But no reply came. By this time, Flight 1907 had crashed into Flight 763 almost head on. Both planes plummeted to the ground in a farming field in flames. All 312 persons on board the 747 and all 37 persons aboard the IL-76 perished. A total of 349 persons died in this tragedy, making it the worst mid-air collision to date.
Cause of Crash
The cause of the crash was determined to be that Flight 1907 had descended below its assigned altitude of 15,000 feet to 14,500 feet without clearance from Delhi and impacting the 747. The Indian accident report primarily blamed the crash on Flight 1907's crew's lack of a working knowledge of English.