Date & Time:
Feb 7, 1968 at 1500 LT
Type of aircraft:
Antonov AN-12
Operator:
Registration:
BL534
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Military
Survivors:
No
Site:
Mountains
Schedule:
Chandigarh - Leh
MSN:
02 4 003
YOM:
1961
Country:
India
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
98
Pax fatalities:
98
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
102
Circumstances:
The four engine aircraft departed Chandigarh on a flight to Leh, carrying 98 passengers, soldiers and family members. While descending to Leh, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with snowstorm and the captain made a 180 turn to return to Chandigarh as a landing at Leh Airport was impossible. Few minutes later, while cruising in zero visibility at an altitude of 22,000 feet, the airplane struck the slope of a snow covered mountain located near the Rohtang Pass, Himachal Pradesh. As the airplane failed to return to Chandigarh, SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few weeks later as no trace of the aircraft no the 102 occupants was found. Some debris were found in August 2003 at an altitude of 5,400 meters in the Dhaka Glacier and three bodies in August 2007.
