The crash of a Boeing 747 near Cork

Aircraft

Boeing 747-237B (registration number VT-EFO, serial number 21473, serial 330) was released in 1978 (the first flight was made on June 19). June 30 of the same year was transferred to the airline Air-India , in which he received the name Emperor Kanishka . Equipped with four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7J turbofan engines . On the day of the crash, the liner made 7525 take-off and landing cycles and flew 23,634 hours ^{[1] [2]} .

Crew and passengers

In Montreal, flight 182 changed crew. The composition of the new crew of flight AI182, flying along the Montreal — London — Delhi — Bombay route, was as follows:

• The aircraft commander (FAC) is 56-year-old Hans Singh Narendra. A very experienced pilot, he worked at Air-India for 28 years and 8 months (from October 1, 1956). He flew a Boeing 707 (first co-pilot, and then FAC). In the post of commander of the Boeing 747 - from February 14, 1973 (before that he had been managing it as a second pilot). 20 379 hours flew, 6487 of them on a Boeing 747 (6364 of them as pic).
• The co - pilot is the 41-year-old Satwinder Singh Binder. An experienced pilot, worked at Air-India for 7 years and 8 months (from October 12, 1977). He flew a Boeing 707 aircraft. As a co-pilot of a Boeing 747 - since May 17, 1980 (in addition, he had experience managing this aircraft as a FAC). 7489 hours flew, 2469 of them on the Boeing 747.
• Flight Engineer - 57-year-old Dara Dumasia. He worked at Air-India for 29 years and 7 months (from October 27, 1954). He flew the Boeing 707. In the position of flight engineer Boeing 747 - since February 6, 1974. 14,885 hours flew, 5512 of them on the Boeing 747.

19 cabin crew worked in the cabin :

1. Jamshed Dinshaw , 40 years old - senior flight attendant. At flight work since December 17, 1984.
2. Sampath Lazar ( born Sampath Lazar ), 44 years old. At flight work since April 1, 1985.
3. Kanaya Thakur , 46 years old. At flight work since February 18, 1985.
4. Inder Thakur , 35 years old. At flight work since May 9, 1984.
5. Sunil Shukla, born 33 years old. At flight work since January 23, 1985.
6. Shona Singh ( Eng. Shobna Singh ), in flight since January 15, 1985.
7. Noshir Vaid, 34 years old. At flight work since May 2, 1985.
8. B.K. Sena ( born BK Sena ), in flight since December 3, 1984.
9. Neli Kashipri, 30 years old. In flight operation since September 12, 1984.
10. Karan Seth (38 years old) At flight work since February 11, 1985.
11. Suzela Raghaven , 23 years old. At flight work since July 13, 1984.
12. S. Chatge ( eng. S. Chatge ), in flight since April 10, 1985.
13. Rima Bhasin , 22 years old. At flight work since February 11, 1985.
14. Lina Kaj ( English Leena Kaj ), 25 years. In flight operation since April 17, 1985.
15. Pamela Dinshaw, 26 years old. At flight work since December 17, 1984.
16. Sharon Lasarado ( born Sharon Lasarado ), 23 years old. In flight operation since April 15, 1985.
17. Elaine Rodricks, 32 years old. In flight operation since June 10, 1985.
18. S. Kaonkar ( born S. Caonkar ), in flight since April 3, 1985.
19. Rita Phansekar (26 years old) At flight work since April 29, 1985.

In total, there were 329 people on board the aircraft - 22 crew members (3 pilots and 19 flight attendants (10 stewards, 9 stewardesses)) and 307 passengers.

Prior Circumstances

Boeing 747-237B aboard VT-EFO made a scheduled flight AI181 on the route Bombay - Delhi - Frankfurt - Toronto - Montreal . At an intermediate landing in Toronto, a fifth engine was attached to the aircraft under the left wing. This engine was removed from another Air-India aircraft when on June 8 it refused to take off, in connection with which the pilots were then forced to return. At the airport on that plane, the failed engine was replaced with a new one, kindly provided by Air Canada . Now, the removed engine was planned to be delivered to India for repair. It was fixed between engine No. 2 and the fuselage, after which it was closed with fairings. Due to the installation of the engine, flight 181 was forced to delay the departure and arrived in Montreal at 01:10 UTC ^{[3] [4]} .

In Montreal, the flight number was changed to AI182 and now the plane was supposed to fly along the Montreal – London – Delhi – Bombay route. Also in Montreal, the crew changed. Narendra sat in the commander’s chair, commander Binder sat on the right, who flew as the second pilot in this flight, and this flight was the last one for the flight engineer Dumasia, since he planned to resign after him. At 02:18 UTC, about 1¾ hours late from the schedule, flight 182 took off from Montreal and after climbing climbed to FL310 (9500 meters). Due to the transported engine, the flight speed was reduced from 892 to 860 km / h, the rest of the flight began without comment. Pilots planned to land in London at 08:33. In total, there were 307 passengers aboard the airliner, of which only 105 landed in Montreal, and the remaining 202 landed in transit ^[3] .

Tokyo Explosion

At 13:41 local time (05:41 UTC) at the Japanese Narita airport, a CP003 flight from Canadian airline Canadian Pacific Air Lines (also Boeing 747) arrived from Vancouver and landed 14 minutes ahead of schedule. Part of the baggage was in transit and then had to be loaded onto Air-India flight AI301. The movers began to take out the bags when at 14:20 (06:20) an explosion occurred among the luggage, which formed a hole in the concrete floor. At the same time, 2 airport employees were killed, 4 more were injured. If the explosion occurred an hour later, then 390 people flying on flight AI301 could die ^[3] .

Holocaust

The pilots of flight AI182 did not know anything about the events in Japan. At 07:05 UTC, the plane passed the coordinate point , in connection with which the pilots contacted the control center at the Shannon Irish Airport . Due to the incorrectly tuned frequency, the second pilot of flight 182 was able to contact the dispatcher only at 07:08:28 ^{[3] [5]} :

The second pilot verbatim repeated the instructions of the dispatcher, but he specified that the code of the respondent is 2005:

Flight AI182 flew at an altitude of 9500 meters and at a speed of 519 km / h along the air corridor 11B-40 (course 198 ° in relation to the north magnetic pole ). Air traffic controllers Michael Quinn and Thomas Lane followed him on the radar screen. In addition to flight AI182, on the screen of their radar there were two more aircraft flying above the Indian Boeing - flights of Trans World Airlines (TWA) (TWA770) and Canadian Pacific Air Lines (CP282). At 07:14, all the marks of three planes merged on the radar and the controllers heard a click on the transmitter that turned on. They disconnected the aircraft tags on the radar and saw that the AI182 flight tag had disappeared from the screen.

Suddenly, at 07:14:01, when flight AI182 was 176 kilometers from Cork , an explosion occurred in the front cargo compartment of the airliner, as a result of which the tail part broke off, and the plane immediately completely collapsed. Pilots did not even have time to transmit a distress signal ^[3] .

At 08:30 the dispatchers informed the coast guard vessels of the disappearance of the passenger plane. Several cargo ships sailing in the area also took part in the search, including Laurentian Forest, Ali Baba, Kongsteift and West Atlantic. Finally, at 09:13 from the board of the cargo ship “Laurentian Forest” they reported the discovery of aircraft debris floating on the water surface. Within a few days, about 50% of the remains of the aircraft and 131 bodies were lifted from the water. All 329 people on board the airliner died. This is the worst air crash among those that happened over water, and at the time of the events it was the third among the largest air crashes in the world ^[3] .

Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi ordered the creation of a disaster investigation commission. The Minister of State for Tourism and Civil Aviation of India, Ashok Gehlot , said that the cause of the crash could be an explosion . In his opinion, this is indicated by the nature of the scatter of the wreckage of the aircraft, which literally crumbled in the air. In addition, Gehlot did not rule out the possibility of sabotage .

The captain of the dry cargo ship “Laurentian Forest” testified that at 07:14 UTC he saw an explosion in the air at an altitude of 9.5 kilometers and said that the plane made two full turns around its axis before falling apart .

The Interpol Commission, composed of representatives from India, Canada, the United States, England and Japan, began an investigation into the tragic incidents. For a long time, the commission was not able to collect strong evidence that it was a terrorist attack. Many fragments of the plane that would help determine the cause of the disaster lay at the bottom of the Atlantic and raising them was unrealistic.

But on July 5, 1985, the remaining fragments were discovered, and on July 9 and 10, both flight recorders were found. Over 20 fragments were picked up, and it gradually became clear that the cause of the death of Flight 182 was an explosion on board.

At the end of January 1986, a report by the Canadian Department was published. Taking into account all the facts and evidence in it, it was said that the disaster occurred due to a bomb explosion in the cargo compartment. Indisputable evidence could not be found, although the version of the explosion was most likely. The interpretation of the flight recorders showed that two explosions occurred on board the aircraft. The recording of the voice recorder was interrupted at the moment when the co-pilot and flight engineer communicated with each other; presumably, the first explosion disabled the electrical system.

Suspicion fell on the Sikh extremists, and not one, but three extremist groups in the USA and Canada took responsibility for the death of the Air-India-182 flight.

U.S. security officials suspected that Lal Singh and Amman Singh were involved in the bombing of Flight 182, who were preparing an assassination attempt against Rajiv Gandhi during his visit to the United States and were suspected of involvement in the bombing at Narita Airport.

At the end of July 1986, police attacked the trail of attackers. When reading the passenger lists, investigators drew attention to the following:

• Someone L. Singh registered in Vancouver for a flight of Canadian Pacific Air Lines-003, but did not board the plane. He also appeared among the passengers of the Air-India-301 flight from Narita to Bangkok. Fingerprints of Lal Singh were found on the remains of a suitcase containing a time bomb that exploded at Narita Airport.
• Another suspect (Amman Singh) showed up in Toronto. Upon arrival there, he checked in for an Air-India-182 flight, but did not board the plane.

Their luggage was loaded on planes on which they did not fly.

By a Canadian court, Lal Singh was sentenced to a long prison term for a terrorist attack at Vancouver Airport.

In 2001, Canadian authorities charged Lal Singh, who was serving a term in Vancouver Prison, with charges of organizing the bombing of 182 Air-India. The charge was brought against the terrorist 3 days before his release.

• The explosion of Flight 182 Air-India is featured in season 5 of the Canadian documentary television series Crash Investigation in the Explosive Evidence series.
• It is also mentioned in the book of I. A. Muromov, “100 Great Air Crash” in the chapter “Boeing 747” blown up in the sky over the Atlantic .

• Boeing 747 blast over Lockerbie
• Explosions of aircraft in Russia

Comments

Sources

• Indian Commission Final Report
• 2010 Final Report Air India Commission - Government of Canada
• The Verdict - Reasons for Judgment, R. v Malik and Bagri
• Background on Air India bombing - CBC.ca
• Aftermath of Air India - www.Canada.com Air India archives
• CBC Digital Archives - The Air India Investigation
• Description of the terrorist attack on the Aviation Safety Network
• RJ Waldron & Co's Air India investigation - Aviation Accident Investigators
• PASSENGERS AND CREW ABOARD AIR-INDIA JETLINER . Associated Press at The New York Times . June 24, 1985 - Preliminary list with crew members indicated and locations of US passengers indicated, Alternate version