Indian Airlines Flight 605

Infobox Airliner accident|name=Flight IC-605
Crash

Image caption=IC 605 crash remains
Date=February 14 1990
Type=Controlled flight into terrain
Site=Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Occupants=146
Crew=7
Passengers=139
Fatalities=92
Survivors=54
Injuries=54
Aircraft Type=Airbus A320-231
Operator=Indian Airlines

Indian Airlines Flight 605 was a flight on February 14, 1990 that crashed on its final approach to Bangalore airport, killing 92 people.

The flight, IC-605, took off from Mumbai (Bombay) at 11:58 for a flight to Bangalore. At 12:25 Bangalore approach was contacted and prevailing weather at Bangalore was passed on to the crew. At 12:44, the Airbus A320 was cleared to descend to 11,000 feet and visual approach into runway 9 was cleared.

On final approach, the aircraft descended well below the normal approach profile and kept descending until it struck the boundaries of the Karnataka Golf Club, Convert|2300|ft|m short and Convert|200|ft|m right of the runway. The aircraft rolled for Convert|80|ft|m and lifted off again for about Convert|230|ft|m and came down again on the 17th green of the golf course.

The landing gear wheels dug into the ground and the aircraft impacted a Convert|12|ft|m high embankment, causing the gears and engines to be sheared off. The aircraft continued over the embankment and came to rest in a grassy, marshy and rocky area.

The official verdict of the crash was the "Failure of the pilots to realize the gravity of the situation and respond immediately towards proper action of moving the throttles, even after the radio altitude call-outs of "Four hundred", "Three hundred" and "Two hundred" feet, in spite of knowing that the plane was in idle/open descent mode." [ [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19900214-2&lang=en ASN Aircraft accident description Airbus A320-231 VT-EPN - Bangalore-Hindustan ] ] However, there were aspersions cast on the then newly launched Airbus A320 and the complications of the aircraft coupled with lack of suitable training for pilots [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE3DD143EF937A15751C0A966958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 India Crash Revives French Dispute Over Safety of Airbus Jet - New York Times ] ] .

The well-known industrialist Ashok Vardhan Birla, his wife Sunanda and daughter Sujata were killed in the crash. [ [http://www.verveonline.com/31/people/birlas/excerpt.shtml People | Easy Alliance ] ]

ee also

* List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners grouped by year

References