1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision
On 12 November 1996,
Saudia Flight 763, a
Boeing 747 en route from
Delhi, India, to
Jeddah, with a stopover in
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and
Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907, an
Ilyushin Il-76 en route from
Chimkent, Kazakhstan, to Delhi, collided over the city of
Charkhi Dadri, around west of Delhi. The crash killed all 349 people on board both planes, making it the
world's deadliest mid-air collision and the deadliest aviation accident ever in India. The final report from the investigation revealed that the Kazakh crew's failure to maintain the correct altitude led to the collision. Contributing factors included the poor English language skills in the Kazakh cockpit, resulting in inadequate interpretation of directions provided by
air traffic control, and three specific incidents of failures in
crew resource management (CRM) by the Kazakh crew. The report also suggested technical enhancements (including
ACAS and
SSR) that would provide assistance in preventing a future crew's mistakes from being allowed to go unchecked in real time.
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