Narrative:
Flight 7412 departed Calcutta 21 minutes late, at 06:51, for a flight to Patna, Lucknow and Delhi. The crew had been cleared to land at runway 25 when they requested a 360-degree orbit because they were high on the approach. Permission was granted and a left turn was initiated. During the left turn, the aircraft stalled. The plane then grazed a few single-storied houses in a government residential housing estate at Aneeshabad and exploded into a ball of fire. The aircraft broke into four pieces. The accident site is located about 2 km southwest of the Patna Airport.
Weather reported at 07:30 included temperature 30deg C (86 F), dewpoint 27deg C (80 F); 997 mB; wind calm, haze, 4000 m visibility.
The aircraft in question, VT-EGD, had been involved in an accident 14 years ago. On January 15, 1986, the pilot of flight 529 attempted to land at Tiruchirapalli in conditions below weather minima. During a go-around the wing contacted the runway due to an excessive bank angle. The wing was substantially damaged, but there were no injuries among the 6 crew and 122 passengers.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The cause of the accident was loss of control of the aircraft due Human Error (air crew). The crew had not followed the correct approach procedure, which resulted in the aircraft being high on approach. They had kept the engines at idle thrust and allowed the air speed to reduce to a lower than normally permissible value on approach. They then maneuvered the aircraft with high pitch attitude and executed rapid roll reversals. This resulted in actuation of the stick shaker stall warning indicating an approaching stall. At this stage, the crew initiated a Go Around procedure instead of Approach to Stall Recovery procedure resulting in an actual stall of the aircraft, loss of control and subsequent impact with the ground."
Loss of control
» PTI
» Reuters
» Times of India
» Tommy Maurer
» US National Weather Service
| Status: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
| Date: | Monday 17 July 2000 |
| Time: | 07:34 |
| Type: |  Boeing 737-2A8 Advanced |
| Operator: | Alliance Air |
| Registration: | VT-EGD |
| MSN: | 22280/671 |
| First flight: | 1980-05-29 (20 years 2 months) |
| Total airframe hrs: | 44087 |
| Cycles: | 51278 |
| Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17A |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 49 / Occupants: 52 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 55 / Occupants: 58 |
| Ground casualties: | Fatalities: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Damaged beyond repair |
| Location: | 2 km (1.3 mls) SW of Patna Airport (PAT) ( India)
|
| Phase: | Approach (APR) |
| Nature: | Domestic Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Calcutta-Netaji Subhas Chandra Airport (CCU/VECC), India |
| Patna Airport (PAT/VEPT), India | |
| Flightnumber: | 7412 |
Flight 7412 departed Calcutta 21 minutes late, at 06:51, for a flight to Patna, Lucknow and Delhi. The crew had been cleared to land at runway 25 when they requested a 360-degree orbit because they were high on the approach. Permission was granted and a left turn was initiated. During the left turn, the aircraft stalled. The plane then grazed a few single-storied houses in a government residential housing estate at Aneeshabad and exploded into a ball of fire. The aircraft broke into four pieces. The accident site is located about 2 km southwest of the Patna Airport.
Weather reported at 07:30 included temperature 30deg C (86 F), dewpoint 27deg C (80 F); 997 mB; wind calm, haze, 4000 m visibility.
The aircraft in question, VT-EGD, had been involved in an accident 14 years ago. On January 15, 1986, the pilot of flight 529 attempted to land at Tiruchirapalli in conditions below weather minima. During a go-around the wing contacted the runway due to an excessive bank angle. The wing was substantially damaged, but there were no injuries among the 6 crew and 122 passengers.
Probable Cause:
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The cause of the accident was loss of control of the aircraft due Human Error (air crew). The crew had not followed the correct approach procedure, which resulted in the aircraft being high on approach. They had kept the engines at idle thrust and allowed the air speed to reduce to a lower than normally permissible value on approach. They then maneuvered the aircraft with high pitch attitude and executed rapid roll reversals. This resulted in actuation of the stick shaker stall warning indicating an approaching stall. At this stage, the crew initiated a Go Around procedure instead of Approach to Stall Recovery procedure resulting in an actual stall of the aircraft, loss of control and subsequent impact with the ground."
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Classification:
Non-adherence to procedures Loss of control
Sources:
» India Today News» PTI
» Reuters
» Times of India
» Tommy Maurer
» US National Weather Service
Follow-up / safety actions
India Court of Inquiry issued 8 Safety Recommendations
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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 Calcutta-Netaji Subhas Chandra Airport to Patna Airport as the crow flies is 469 km (293 miles).
Accident location: Exact; as reported in the official accident report.
Distance from Calcutta-Netaji Subhas Chandra Airport to Patna Airport as the crow flies is 469 km (293 miles).
Accident location: Exact; as reported in the official accident report.
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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Boeing 737-200
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