Latest, earliest and worst air disasters in India and a special mention

In August 2020, an Air India flight carrying 190 people on board overshot the runway during landing at Calicut in Kerala. The flight was repatriating Indians in Dubai caught in the lockdown. The flight crashed in the valley, broke in four pieces, leaving 21 dead.

In a more dramatic and frightening incident, two flights collided mid-air west of Delhi. In 1996, a flight from Kazakhstan was readying to land at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, while a flight from Saudi Arabia was just beginning its journey. Language barrier and miscommunication led to the flight colliding causing the death of all 349 on board the two flights. The Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision is known as the worst air disaster.

The earliest known air disaster in India took place in 1958. Known as Dan-Air Avro York crash, the flight crashed at Gurgaon following an in-flight fire caused by engine failure, killing four of five on board.

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Talking about air emergencies requires a special mention of an incident on a Lucknow-Delhi flight, when four students Lucknow Government Arts College hijacked the flight. Their demands? Changes to college course, cancellation of award to professor and postponement of exams.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, a total of 2,173 killed people have been killed in air crashes since 1947 in India — 80% of the times due to pilot error.