What happened
A flight consisting of a four-engine aircraft departed from Chandigarh, destined for Leh, with a total of 102 occupants, including passengers, military personnel, and their families. During the descent toward Leh, the crew encountered heavy snowstorms and degraded visibility. Due to the inability to land at the destination airport under such conditions, the captain executed a 180-degree turn to attempt a return to Chandigarh.
While maintaining an altitude of 22,000 feet in zero-visibility conditions, the aircraft impacted a snow-covered mountain slope in the vicinity of Rohtang Pass, Himachal Pradesh. Following the disappearance, search and rescue operations were initiated but were ultimately terminated several weeks later after no evidence of the plane or its passengers could be located.
In August 2003, fragments of debris were discovered at an elevation of 5,400 meters within the Dhaka Glacier. Subsequent to this discovery, three bodies were recovered from the area in August 2007.
Findings
The accident occurred while the aircraft was cruising in zero visibility during a period of intense snowstorms.