So these are plane crashes from around the world, but it's only for the countries that had a true crime case, if you don't see a plane crash in here, check my True crime from around the world book.
Warning, this book contains plane crashes and the a...
These plane crashes take us to the Asian country of India, which is located next to the following countries: Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
WARNINGS OF PLANE CRASHES
Number 1- Crash of Air India Flight 855
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Pictured above is the accident aircraft in 1976.
Air India Flight 855 was a scheduled passenger flight from Bombay (now Mumbai), India, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. On the 1st of January 1978, the Boeing 747 operating the flight crashed into the Arabian Sea about 3 km (1.9 mi; 1.6 nmi) off the coast of Bandra, less than two minutes after take-off, killing all 213 passengers and crew on board. An investigation into the crash determined the most likely probable cause was the captain becoming spatially disoriented and losing control of the aircraft after the failure of one of the flight instruments. It was Air India's deadliest air disaster until the bombing of Flight 182 in 1985 and was the deadliest airliner accident in Indian history until Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision in 1996. It is currently at third for both categories after being surpassed by Air India Flight 171 (Which is currently under investigation) in June 2025.
The aircraft involved, manufactured in 1971, was a Boeing 747-237B named Emperor Ashoka and registered as VT-EBD (Victor Tango- Echo Bravo Delta). This particular 747 was the first aircraft of this type in the Air India's fleet, with a seating configuration of 16 First Class, 40 Business Class, and 338 Economy seats.
The flight crew consisted of the following people:
- The captain was 51-year old Madan Lal Kukar. He had joined Air India in 1956, and was experienced, having almost 18,000 flight hours.
- The first officer was 43-year-old Indu Virmani, a former Indian Air Force Wing Commander who joined Air India in 1976. He had more than 4,500 flight hours.
- The flight engineer was 53-year-old Alfredo Faria, who joined Air India in 1955 and had 11,000 flight hours, making him one of Air India's most senior flight engineers at the time of the accident.
The aircraft departed from Bombay's Santa Cruz Airport (later Sahar Airport, now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, IATA: BOM, ICAO: VABB). The destination was Dubai International Airport (IATA: DXB, ICAO: OMDB) in Dubai.
Approximately one minute after takeoff from runway 27, Captain Kukar made a scheduled right turn upon crossing the Bombay coastline over the Arabian Sea, after which the aircraft briefly returned to a normal level position. Soon it began rolling to the left, and never regained level flight.
The cockpit voice recorder recovered from the wreckage revealed that Captain Kukar was the first to notice a problem, when he said, "What's happened here, my instruments ..." The captain was explaining that his attitude direction indicator (ADI) had "toppled", meaning that it was still showing the aircraft in a right bank. First Officer Virmani, whose presumably functional AI was now showing a left bank (and not noticing the captain's concern), said, "Mine has also toppled, looks fine." It is believed that the Captain mistakenly took this to mean that both primary AIs were indicating a right bank, in effect confirming what he believed he was seeing. It was after sunset and the aircraft was flying over a dark Arabian Sea, leaving the aircrew unable to visually cross-check their AI instrument readings with the actual horizon outside the cockpit windows.
