What happened
On the morning of June 23, 1985, an Air India Boeing 747, registered as VT-EFO, was operating flight AI182 from Montreal toward London, with subsequent destinations in Delhi and Bombay. While transiting the airspace near Ireland, the aircraft was being tracked by radar at Shannon. At approximately 0714 GMT, while cruising at an altitude of roughly 31,000 feet, the plane vanished from the radar screen.
Following the disappearance, Shannon Upper Area Control attempted to establish contact with the flight, but no response was received. The situation was reported to the Marine Rescue Coordination Center at 0730 hours. Subsequent emergency broadcasts led to a coordinated search and rescue effort involving various maritime vessels converging on the coordinates 51° 3.6' N and 12° 49' W, located off the southwest coast of Ireland. The accident resulted in 329 fatalities, comprising all 307 passengers and 22 crew members.
Findings
Investigations into the destruction of the aircraft revealed that the forward and aft cargo holds had ruptured prior to the plane hitting the ocean surface. Additionally, the portion of the airframe located behind the wings had detached from the front section before impact. While investigators found no evidence that a structural failure was the primary cause, there was significant circumstantial evidence suggesting that an explosion in the forward cargo compartment served as the initiating event.