What happened
On the evening of the accident, an aircraft departed from New Delhi-Indira Gandhi Airport at 18:33 local time, bound for Jeddah with a scheduled stop in Dhahran. The flight was carrying a total of 289 passengers and 23 crew members. Following departure, the flight crew received instructions to climb to flight level 140 using route G452.
Approximately seven minutes into the flight, while maintaining an altitude of 14,000 feet, the aircraft encountered another plane. The second aircraft, an Ilyushin II-76TD with registration UN-76435, was operating as Kazakhstan Airlines (Kazair) flight KZA1907 from Shymskent and was in the process of descending toward New Delhi Airport. This aircraft was carrying 27 passengers and 10 crew members.
A collision occurred between the two aircraft in mid-air. Following the impact, both planes entered an uncontrolled descent, eventually crashing into an open field situated roughly 3 km from Charkhi Dadri, approximately 80 km west of New Delhi-Indira Gandhi Airport. The impact and subsequent fire destroyed both aircraft, resulting in 349 fatalities and no survivors.
Findings
- The collision occurred during the cruise phase for the first aircraft and the descent phase for the second aircraft.
- The mid-air collision led to the total destruction of both airframes and the loss of all occupants.