Air India Plane Crash Reminds Of Patna's 2000 Aviation Tragedy

The tragic Air India crash in which at least 274 people were killed in Ahmedabad last week brought back the memories of another aviation disaster that rocked the country 25 years ago.  

As rescue teams pulled out charred bodies and burnt luggage from the London-bound Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 on June 12, India was reminded of the July 17, 2000, crash when Alliance Air Flight 7412 plummeted into Gardanibagh in Patna.

Alliance Air Crash 2000

The flight was nearing Patna Airport with 58 people on board. The aircraft, a Boeing 737, had taken off from Kolkata and was scheduled to land in Delhi via Patna.

As it approached Runway 25, it became clear something was off. The plane was too high for a safe descent. The pilots requested a 360-degree turn to correct their approach, a standard move under such circumstances.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aircraft was flying too slow, with idle engines and a sharply pitched-up nose. The stall warning, a vibrating “stick shaker”, activated, signalling an imminent loss of lift. Instead of performing standard stall recovery, the pilots attempted a go-around.

It was too late.

The plane lost control mid-air, dipped violently, and crashed into the crowded Gardanibagh colony. Two houses were flattened. Fire and smoke consumed the area within seconds.

Seven passengers were rescued alive from the rear of the aircraft. Four of them later died.

Experienced Pilots

The cockpit had veterans in command. Captain Arvind Singh Bagga, 31, had logged over 4,000 flying hours. His co-pilot, Captain Manjit Singh Sohanpal, 35, was equally experienced.

The experience wasn’t enough.

The final inquiry concluded that the crew misjudged the approach, reacted too slowly, and fatally mishandled the stall. The official cause was human error.

At least 60 people were killed. This included locals crushed beneath the falling fuselage.

Where The Plane Fell, A Haunted School Now Stands

Today, the crash site is barely recognisable. A government girls’ school sits on the land where Flight 7412 came down. A flyover curves past it. New apartment blocks tower nearby. But the past has not been erased.

“We used to hear someone crying during the night,” said Ravi Ram, a sweeper who lives near the school. “Patna’s darkest day,” he calls it, reported The Times Of India.

“We still used to hear sounds coming from inside the school building after midnight. It appears that someone is walking or running on the terrace or inside the school building,” he recalled.

Others echo this. “People avoided the area at night,” said a resident.

“Residents spoke of hearing cries for help at odd hours. Havans and religious ceremonies were performed to calm what many believed were restless souls,” he said.

Ajay Kumar Singh, a security guard at the under-construction MLC-MLA quarters next to the school, remembers the morning of the crash vividly.

“There was a huge thump in the morning, then we saw fire and smoke. I rushed to the site and witnessed the heart-wrenching scene. Even now, we hear strange noises after 1 am. It is like someone thrashing desks and benches inside the school,” he recalled.

Coming back to the Ahmedabad crash, 241 of the 242 people on board died. The sole survivor was a British-Indian citizen who walked out of the flames and was later admitted to a hospital. He was seated in 11A.