Accident description
Last updated: 23 May 2013
| Status: | Preliminary |
| Date: | 07 FEB 1968 |
| Type: | Antonov 12BP |
| Operator: | Indian Air Force - IAF |
| Registration: | BL534 |
| C/n / msn: | 024003 |
| First flight: | |
| Engines: | 4 Ivchenko AI-20M |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 92 / Occupants: 92 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 98 / Occupants: 98 |
| Airplane damage: | Written off |
| Airplane fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Rohtang Pass (India)
 |
| Phase: | En route (ENR) |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Leh Airport (IXL/VILH), India |
| Chandigarh Airport (IXC/VICG), India | |
| Flightnumber: | 203 |
The aircraft, operated by Air Force squadron 25, went missing while descending for Chandigarh. 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. Probably the Antonov descended prematurely and collided with a mountainside. The remains of one of the passengers of the flight were discovered on a mountainside in August 2003, 200km from Chandigarh. A search expedition in August 2005 found more bodies and wreckage at an altitude of 5400 metres, buried under 9 meters of snow, dispersed around an area of 5 square kilometers.
Events:
Sources:
» BBC
» Indian Express Newspapers
» The Tribune (India)
» Warbirds of India
Photos
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 Leh Airport to Chandigarh Airport as the crow flies is 389 km (243 miles).
Distance from Leh Airport to Chandigarh Airport as the crow flies is 389 km (243 miles).
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 12
India- worst accident (at the time)
- 5th worst accident (currently)