Date & Time:
Nov 12, 1996 at 1840 LT
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 747-100
Operator:
Registration:
HZ-AIH
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
New Delhi - Dhahran - Jeddah
MSN:
22748
YOM:
1982
Flight number:
SV763
Country:
India
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
23
Crew fatalities:
23
Pax on board:
289
Pax fatalities:
289
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
312
Captain / Total hours on type:
104
Copilot / Total hours on type:
1952
Aircraft flight hours:
40035
Aircraft flight cycles:
14927
Circumstances:
The aircraft departed New Delhi-Indira Gandhi Airport at 1833LT on a flight to Jeddah with an intermediate stop in Dhahran, carrying 289 passengers and 23 crew members. After takeoff, the crew was instructed to climb to FL140 via route G452. Seven minutes after takeoff, while cruising at an altitude of 14,000 feet, the aircraft collided with a Kazakhstan Airlines (Kazair) Ilyushin II-76TD that was descending to New Delhi Airport. Registered UN-76435, it was completing flight KZA1907 from Shymkent with 27 passengers and 10 crew members on board. After the collision, both aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in an open field located about 3 km Charkhi Dadri, some 80 km west of New Delhi-Indira Gandhi Airport. Both aircraft were destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all 349 occupants in both aircraft were killed.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the collision was the consequence of the failure of the Kazair crew to follow the assigned altitude of 15,000 feet while approaching New Delhi. The crew of the Kazair II-76 was instructed by ATC to continue the descent to Indira Gandhi Airport via the same route G452 but at an altitude of 15,000 feet (14,000 feet for the Saudia B747). For unknown reasons, the Kazair crew continued the descent below FL150 without clearance until both aircraft faced each other and collided. During the minutes preceding the accident, both Kazair and Saudia crew have been informed by ATC about other traffic.
Final Report:
HZ-AIH.pdf47.35 MB
