was a flight on
August 16 1991 that crashed on its descent into
Imphal , killing all 69 occupants (including 1 infant).
The flight was operating on the Calcutta-Imphal sector crashed into Thangjing hills, about 20 nautical miles south-west of the Imphal airport. The aircraft had earlier taken off from Calcutta around noon and it began a descent into Imphal airport at around 12:41, with the visibility at that time being seven kilometres. However, the aircraft lost contact with Imphal airport after 12:45 or 5000 feet on the Insrument Landing System. The search and rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather conditions and a difficult (slushy) terrain. http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lsdeb/ls10/ses1/18190891.htm
The probable cause of accident was attributed to an "error on the part of the Pilot-in-Command in not adhering to the operational flight plan and ILS let down chart and not realizing that his early descent to 10,000 feet and turning right for outbound leg without reporting overhead VOR would result in loss of time reference and as such misplace him in the hilly terrain. The Pilot-in-Command's action may have been influenced by his extreme familiarity with the terrain". Indian Airlines paid a compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs for each adult deceased passenger and Rs. 2.50 lakhs for the deceased infant in the accident. http://dgca.gov.in/accident/acc91.pdf
