Date & Time:
Jun 14, 1972 at 2018 LT
Type of aircraft:
Douglas DC-8
Operator:
Registration:
JA8012
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Tokyo – Bangkok – New Delhi – Tehran – Cairo – Rome – Frankfurt – London
MSN:
45680/213
YOM:
1964
Flight number:
JL471
Country:
India
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
11
Crew fatalities:
10
Pax on board:
76
Pax fatalities:
72
Other fatalities:
4
Total fatalities:
86
Circumstances:
During a night approach to runway 28 at New Delhi-Palam Airport, the crew failed to realize his altitude was too low when the airplane struck several houses and crashed in flames on the west shore of the Yamuna River, some 22 km east of the airport. Ten crew members and 72 passengers as well as four people on the ground were killed. Five other occupants were injured. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. At the time of the accident, the copilot was the pilot-in-command.
Probable cause:
Japanese investigators claimed a false glide path signal to be responsible for the descent into terrain. Indian investigators say the accident was caused by a total disregard of laid down procedures by the crew and abandoning all instrument indications without properly ensuring sighting of the runway.
