Alliance Air Flight 7412
Encyclopedia
Alliance Air Flight 7412 departed Calcutta (Kolkata
) at 06:51 on July 17, 2000, for a flight to Delhi
, with stops at Patna
and Lucknow
. The crew had been cleared to land at runway 25 at Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport
at Patna when the pilots requested a 360-degree orbit due to the flight being high on the approach. Permission was granted and a left turn was initiated. During the left turn, the aircraft stalled
. The plane then grazed a few single-storied houses in a government residential housing estate and crashed in a government residential colony behind Gardani Bagh Girls School at Anishabad, which is located about 2 km southwest of the Patna Airport. The aircraft broke into four pieces.
However, the final investigation noted pilot error as the cause of the plane crash. According to the panel, the crew had not followed the correct approach procedure, which resulted in the aircraft being high on approach. The engines had been kept at idle thrust, which allowed the air speed to decline below the allowed minimum for approach and caused the aircraft to stall. The inquiry also pointed out that the airport had "several operational constraints, resulting in erosion of safety margins for operation of Airbus 320s and Boeing 737s."
The flight crew consisted of captain Manjit Singh Sohanpal and co-pilot Arvind Singh Bagga. A criminal case, filed against them based on the statement of a surviving passenger, was later withdrawn. Both Captain Sohanpal and co-pilot Bagga died in the incident.
, with the then civil aviation minister Sharad Yadav
reportedly unhappy with the maintenance of the aircraft and asking for replacement of a number of additional aircraft. Some reports even claimed that one of the engines was on fire before the crash. However, the investigation clearly said the aircraft was fully airworthy and was properly maintained.
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
) at 06:51 on July 17, 2000, for a flight to Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, with stops at Patna
Patna
Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...
and Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
. The crew had been cleared to land at runway 25 at Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport
Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport
Patna Airport , also known as Jaiprakash Narayan International Airport, Patna , is an airport located southwest of Patna, the capital of state of Bihar in India...
at Patna when the pilots requested a 360-degree orbit due to the flight being high on the approach. Permission was granted and a left turn was initiated. During the left turn, the aircraft stalled
Stall (flight)
In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded...
. The plane then grazed a few single-storied houses in a government residential housing estate and crashed in a government residential colony behind Gardani Bagh Girls School at Anishabad, which is located about 2 km southwest of the Patna Airport. The aircraft broke into four pieces.
Investigation
The aircraft in question, VT-EGD, had been involved in an earlier accident. On January 15, 1986, the pilot of flight 529 attempted to land at Tiruchirapalli in conditions below weather minima. During a go-around the wing contacted the runway due to an excessive bank angle. The wing was substantially damaged, but there were no injuries among the 6 crew and 122 passengers. The aircraft was to be phased out by the end of the year per Indian government guidelines which do not allow aircraft over 20 years old to operate in Indian airspace.However, the final investigation noted pilot error as the cause of the plane crash. According to the panel, the crew had not followed the correct approach procedure, which resulted in the aircraft being high on approach. The engines had been kept at idle thrust, which allowed the air speed to decline below the allowed minimum for approach and caused the aircraft to stall. The inquiry also pointed out that the airport had "several operational constraints, resulting in erosion of safety margins for operation of Airbus 320s and Boeing 737s."
The flight crew consisted of captain Manjit Singh Sohanpal and co-pilot Arvind Singh Bagga. A criminal case, filed against them based on the statement of a surviving passenger, was later withdrawn. Both Captain Sohanpal and co-pilot Bagga died in the incident.
Controversy
There were a number of aspersions cast on the maintenance of flights by Alliance AirAlliance Air
Air India Regional is an Indian airline which was started as a low-cost arm of Indian as Alliance Air . As part of Indian's merger with Air India, it was renamed Air India Regional. It operates 357 weekly flights to 25 domestic destinations as a subsidiary of Air India.- History :The airline was...
, with the then civil aviation minister Sharad Yadav
Sharad Yadav
Sharad Yadav, a politician from the Janata Dal party, is currently a Member of the Parliament of India representing the Madhepura constituency of Bihar in the Lok Sabha...
reportedly unhappy with the maintenance of the aircraft and asking for replacement of a number of additional aircraft. Some reports even claimed that one of the engines was on fire before the crash. However, the investigation clearly said the aircraft was fully airworthy and was properly maintained.
See also
- List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners grouped by year
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