1976 aviation accident
Indian Airlines Flight 171 was a Caravelle that crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Bombay Airport (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport) on 12 October 1976 after suffering an uncontained engine failure, killing all 95 people on board. Metal fatigue in the No. 2 engine's 10th stage high-pressure compressor disk had caused it to disintegrate,[1] the resulting fragments severed fuel lines causing fuel to leak into the engine and ignite causing an uncontrolled fire that eventually affected control surfaces leading to a loss of control.
Crash
Flight 171 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Madras (now Chennai). A Boeing aircraft was originally supposed to make the flight but it developed engine trouble and was replaced with a Sud Aviation Caravelle.[2] Shortly after takeoff from runway 27, Flight 171 suffered a No. 2 engine failure. The crew of Flight 171 immediately turned back to attempt an emergency landing on Bombay Airport's runway 09. With its undercarriage down approximately 1,000 yards (3,000 ft; 910 m) from the end of the runway and while at an altitude of 300 feet (91 m), the aircraft suffered a loss of control and plummeted into the ground. Everyone on board Flight 171 perished in the accident.[1][3]
Cause
A fatigue crack in the tenth stage compressor disc caused a power plant failure which was followed by the bursting of the compressor casing and the cutting of fuel lines that spanned the structure. This caused an intense in-flight fire in the engine bay. It is believed the fire consumed the Caravelle's supply of hydraulic fluid and this was the cause of the aircraft going out of control.[4]
Passengers
Indian actress Rani Chandra died in the accident while actor Jeetendra had planned to board the airliner but cancelled. The actor said that because it was Karwa Chauth, his wife asked him to delay his trip, but Jeetendra decided to head to the airport anyway. After reaching the airport, he realised that the flight was late and decided to go back home to help his wife break her fast. Subsequently, his wife did not allow him to return to the airport, and hours later he read that the plane had burst into flames mid-air.[5]
