Darbhanga Aviation was a private

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

started by

Maharaja Kameshwar Singh Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

Darbhanga Darbhanga is the fifth-largest city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Bihar situated centrally in Mithila region. Darbhanga is the headquarters of the Darbhanga district and the Darbhanga division. It was the seat of the erstw ...

. Darbhanga Aviation was started in 1950 and became defunct by 1962.

History

The airline started operations after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when it had purchased three former military

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

aircraft.

Accidents and incidents

*1 March 1954 – Douglas DC-3, registered VT-DEM, was destroyed in an accident near Calcutta. The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic Service out of

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, India, when it crashed on takeoff. The No.1 engine of the DC-3 caught fire immediately after takeoff from Calcutta runway 19R. The aircraft failed to gain height, stalled and crashed into trees, 3330 feet past the runway end. Two of the eight passengers, and all three crew members aboard the DC-3 were killed in the crash. The six surviving passengers were all critically injured. Although the engine fire was the primary cause of the crash, the pilot was also cited for a delay in feathering the engine, and the extreme nose up altitude of the plane during takeoff. Both of those factors contributed to the downing of the plane. *24 May 1962 – Douglas DC-3, registered VT-AYG, crashed near Rajshahi in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. The cause of crash has been attributed to fatigue failure of the No. 1 engine forcing the crew of the DC-3 to continue on a single engine (No. 2). After a while the remaining engine lost power due to overheating resulting in crash of the aircraft.Darbhanga Aviation (ATDB)
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References

{{Airlines of India Defunct airlines of India Airlines established in 1950 Airlines disestablished in 1962 1962 disestablishments in India Indian companies established in 1950 Darbhanga Transport in Bihar Transport in Darbhanga 1950 establishments in Bihar