ASN Aircraft accident Antonov An-12BP BL534 Dhaka Glacier
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Status:Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources
Date:Wednesday 7 February 1968
Type:Silhouette image of generic AN12 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Antonov An-12BP
Operator:Indian Air Force - IAF
Registration: BL534
MSN: 024003
First flight:
Engines: 4 Ivchenko AI-20M
Crew:Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Passengers:Fatalities: 98 / Occupants: 98
Total:Fatalities: 102 / Occupants: 102
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Dhaka Glacier (   India)
Crash site elevation: 5280 m (17323 feet) amsl
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Military
Departure airport:Chandigarh Airport (IXC/VICG), India
Destination airport:Leh Airport (IXL/VILH), India
Flightnumber: 203
Narrative:
The aircraft, operated by Air Force squadron 25, went missing while on a flight from Chandigarh to Leh. Weather was deteriorating as a weather disturbance from the Pakistan side was moving in fast and the higher reaches of the mountains in the flight path were getting covered up. Reportedly the captain decided to return to Chandigarh but the airplane failed to arrived.
The wreckage was located on a mountainside and a glacier in August 2003, 200 km from Chandigarh. The airplane crashed near Chandrabhaga Peak 13, a 20,500 feet high mountain with wreckage being scattered along Dhaka Glacier at an elevation of 17,324 feet (5280 m).
A search expedition in August 2005 found more bodies and wreckage buried under 9 meters of snow, dispersed around an area of 5 square kilometers.
One more body was recovered during an Indian Army expedition in August 2013.

Classification:
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain

Sources:
» BBC
» Indian Express Newspapers
» The Times of India
» Warbirds of India
» Parts Of Air Force Aircraft Recovered 51 Years After It Went Missing (ndtv.com, 19-8-2019)


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Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Chandigarh Airport to Leh Airport as the crow flies is 389 km (243 miles).
Accident location: Approximate; accuracy within a few kilometers.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Antonov An-12

  • 1243 built
  • 29th loss
  • 13th fatal accident
  • The worst accident (at the time)
  • 2nd worst accident (currently)
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 India
  • The worst accident (at the time)
  • 5th worst accident (currently)
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