Indian Airlines Flight 440

An Indian Airlines Boeing 737-200, similar to the one involved in the crash
Accident
Date	31 May 1973 (1973-05-31)
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	New Delhi, India
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 737-2A8
Aircraft name	Saranga
Operator	Indian Airlines
Registration	VT-EAM
Flight origin	Madras Airport, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Destination	Palam International Airport, New Delhi, India
Passengers	58
Crew	7
Fatalities	48
Survivors	17

Indian Airlines Flight 440 was a flight on 31 May 1973 that crashed while on approach to Palam Airport (now Indira Gandhi International Airport) killing 48 of the 65 passengers and crew on board.

Accident

Flight 440 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu to New Delhi. A Boeing 737 named Saranga was used for the flight. As Flight 440 approached Palam International Airport in driving dust and a rainstorm, the aircraft struck high tension wires during a NDB approach with visibility below minimal. The aircraft crashed and caught fire.^[1] 48 of the 65 passengers and crew on board Flight 440 perished in the accident.^[2] Rescue officials said the survivors were in the front of the aircraft,^[3] although one survivor reported sitting in the back row.^[4]

The survivors included three Americans and two Japanese. The dead included four Americans, three Britons, and one woman from Yemen.^[3] Among the dead was Indian Minister of Iron and Steel Mines, Mohan Kumaramangalam, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha and Communist Party of India politician K. Baladhandayutham and former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and Indian National Congress politician Devaki Gopidas and Indian businessman Raghunatha Reddy Kakani. A major survivors were Bhan Singh Bhaura Member Parliament and V. K. Madhavan Kutty, an eminent journalist and writer.

Cause

Investigators determined the Indian Airlines Flight 440 crash was caused by the crew descending below the minimum decision height.^[5]