In1996, Saudia Flight 763, a Boeing 747 en route from Delhi, India, to Dhahran, Saudi
Arabia, and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907, an Ilyushin Il-76 en route from Chimkent,
Kazakhstan, to Delhi, collided over the village of Charkhi Dadri, around 100 km 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 to occur in India.
The investigation commission determined that the accident had been the fault of the
Kazakh commander, who had descended from the assigned altitude of 15,000ft to 14,000
feet. The report ascribed the cause of this breach to the lack of English language skills on
the part of the Kazakhstani aircraft pilots; they were relying completely on their radio
operator for communications with ATC. The radio operator did not have his own flight
instrumentation and had to look over the pilots' shoulders for a reading.
This accident lead to the worldwide mandatory use of Traffic Collision Avoidance System.
Saudia / Kazakhstan Airlines Collision