Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision facts for kids

The Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision was a terrible accident that happened on November 12, 1996. It took place high above a village called Charkhi Dadri in Haryana, India. Two large airplanes crashed into each other in the sky. One was a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747, flying from Delhi to Dhahran in Saudi Arabia. The other was a Kazakhstan Airlines Illyushin Il-76, on its way from Chimkent, Kazakhstan to Delhi.

What Happened During the Collision?

On that day, the Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 (Flight SVA763) took off from Delhi International Airport at 6:35 PM, heading for Dhahran. At the same time, the Kazakhstan Airlines Illyushin Il-76 (Flight KZA1907) was flying towards Delhi, getting ready to land.

Both airplanes were being guided by the same air traffic controller, VK Dutta. The Kazakh plane (KZA1907) was told to fly down to an altitude of 15,000 feet (about 4,572 meters). The Saudi plane (SVA763) was told to climb up to 14,000 feet (about 4,267 meters). This meant they should have been flying at different heights, safely apart.

About eight minutes later, the Kazakh plane reported that it had reached 15,000 feet. However, it was actually flying lower, at about 14,500 feet (about 4,420 meters), and was still going down. The air traffic controller did not notice this mistake.

Suddenly, the tail of the Kazakh plane sliced through the left wing of the Saudi Boeing 747. The Saudi plane lost control and spun downwards very fast, crashing into the ground at a speed of 1,135 kilometers per hour (about 705 miles per hour). The Kazakh plane stayed mostly in one piece but also fell quickly and crashed into a field.

Sadly, everyone on both planes died in the crash. This included all 312 people on the Saudi plane and all 37 people on the Kazakh plane. The collision happened about 60 miles (about 97 kilometers) west of Delhi. The parts of the Saudi plane crashed near Dhani village, while the parts of the Kazakh plane landed near Birohar village, both in Haryana.

How the Accident Was Investigated

After the crash, a group called the Lahoti Commission, led by judge Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, investigated what went wrong. They looked at the flight data recorders from both planes. These recorders are like black boxes that record everything about the flight. Experts in Moscow and Farnborough, England, helped to understand the information from these recorders.

The investigation found that the accident was the fault of the Kazakh plane's commander. The pilot had flown lower than the assigned altitude of 15,000 feet. They went down to 14,500 feet, then even lower, to 14,000 feet and below.

The report also said that a big reason for this serious mistake was that the Kazakh pilots did not speak English very well. They relied completely on their radio operator to talk to the air traffic control. Just a few seconds before the planes hit, the radio operator on the Kazakh plane realized they were too low and told the pilot to climb. But it was too late. The tail of the Kazakh plane hit the left wing of the Saudi jet, causing both planes to break apart.

Documentaries About the Collision

This terrible disaster was featured in an episode of the TV show Mayday (TV series) (also known as Air Crash Investigation). The episode, called "Sight Unseen," aired on March 2, 2009. It used computer animations to show how the collision happened, helping people understand the event better.

See also

In Spanish: Colisión aérea de Charkhi Dadri para niños