Indian Airlines Flight 171 was a Caravelle that crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Bombay Airport (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport) on 12 October 1976 after suffering an

uncontained engine failure A turbine engine failure occurs when a turbine engine unexpectedly stops producing power due to a malfunction other than fuel exhaustion. It often applies for aircraft, but other turbine engines can fail, like ground-based turbines used in powe ...

, killing all 95 people on board. Metal fatigue in the No. 2 engine's 10th stage high-pressure compressor disk had caused it to disintegrate, the resulting fragments severed fuel lines causing fuel to leak into the engine and ignite causing an uncontrolled fire that eventually affected control surfaces leading to a loss of control.

The crash

Flight 171 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

(now Mumbai) to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(now Chennai). A Boeing aircraft was originally supposed to make the flight but it developed engine trouble and was replaced with a

Sud Aviation Caravelle The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a French jet airliner produced by Sud Aviation. It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s and made its maiden flight on 27 May 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for t ...

. Shortly after takeoff from runway 27, Flight 171 suffered a No. 2 engine failure. The crew of Flight 171 immediately turned back to attempt an emergency landing on Bombay Airport's runway 09. With its undercarriage down approximately from the end of the runway and while at an altitude of , the aircraft suffered a loss of control and plummeted into the ground. Everyone on board Flight 171 perished in the accident.

Cause

A fatigue crack in the tenth stage compressor disc caused a power plant failure which was followed by the bursting of the compressor casing and the cutting of fuel lines that spanned the structure. This caused an intense in-flight fire in the engine bay. It is believed the fire consumed the Caravelle's supply of

hydraulic fluid A hydraulic fluid or hydraulic liquid is the medium by which power is transferred in hydraulic machinery. Common hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oil or water. Examples of equipment that might use hydraulic fluids are excavators and backhoe ...

and this was the cause of the aircraft going out of control.

Passengers

Indian actress

Rani Chandra Rani Chandra (1949 – 1976), born in Kochi, Kerala, was a Malayalam film actress and winner of the Miss Kerala Title. She died in a plane crash in 1976. She acted in several landmark films such as '' Nellu'' (Malayalam, 1974), ''Bhadrakali'' ...

died in the accident. Indian actor

Jeetendra Ravi Kapoor ( ; born 7 April 1942), known mononymously by his screen name Jeetendra, is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He also serves as the chairman of the Balaji Telefilms and Balaji Motion Pictures. Early life ...

had planned to board the airliner but cancelled. The actor said that because it was

Karwa Chauth Karwa Chauth is a festival celebrated by Hindu women of Northern and Western India on the fourth day after Purnima (a full moon) in the month of Ashwin. Like many Hindu festivals, Karwa Chauth is based on the lunisolar calendar which accounts f ...

, his wife asked him to delay his trip, but Jeetendra decided to head to the airport anyway. After reaching the airport, he realised that the flight was late and decided to go back home to help his wife break her fast. Subsequently, Shobha didn't allow him to return to the airport, and hours later he found out that the plane he was supposed to travel in had burst into flames mid-air.

References

External links

* {{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1976 1976 in India Aviation accidents and incidents in 1976 Airliner accidents and incidents caused by in-flight fires Airliner accidents and incidents caused by mechanical failure Aviation accidents and incidents in India Accidents and incidents involving the Sud Aviation Caravelle

171 Year 171 (Roman numerals, CLXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Herennianus (or, less frequently, year 92 ...

October 1976 events in Asia Airliner accidents and incidents involving uncontained engine failure Airliner accidents and incidents caused by engine failure