On 12 November 1996, Saudia Flight 763, a Boeing 747 en route from Delhi, India, to Jeddah, with a stopover in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907, an Ilyushin Il-76 en route from Shymkent, Kazakhstan, to Delhi, collided over the city of Charkhi Dadri, around west of Delhi. The crash killed all 349 people on board both planes, making it the world's deadliest mid-air collision, Contributing factors included the poor English language skills in the Kazakh cockpit, resulting in inadequate interpretation of directions provided by air traffic control, and three specific incidents of failures in crew resource management (CRM) by the Kazakh crew. The investigators noted the Indian airport lacked a secondary surveillance radar; the airport only had a primary radar, which produced readings of distance and bearing, but not altitude.

Aircraft involved

Saudia Flight 763

Saudia Flight 763 was a Boeing 747-168B, registration HZ-AIH, departing from Delhi as part of a scheduled international Delhi–Dhahran–Jeddah passenger service with 312 people on board.

See also

  • List of accidents and incidents involving airliners by airline

References

Citations

Further reading

  • . '. Obeikan, 2000. : Book by a Saudi pilot which discusses this incident
  • Bhavya Dore. "Collision". Fifty Two. 9 October 2020.
  • "Pilot error focus of India collision investigation" (Archive). CNN. 14 November 1996.
  • Directorate General of Civil Aviation OPERATIONS CIRCULAR NO.3 OF 1999 ()
  • "Officials say hundreds feared killed in airline collision over India" (Archive). CNN. 12 November 1996.
  • Burns, John F. "Indian and Kazak Officials Trade Accusations in Air Collision." The New York Times. 15 November 1996.
  • Centre for Disaster Management (Haryana Institute of Public Administration) Case Study: Charkhi Dadri Mid Air Collision
  • Victims, crash site of the mid-air collision from Associated Press Archive