Indian Airlines Airbus 320 Crashes Approaching Runway, Killing 91

An Indian Airlines jet with 146 people aboard crashed and burst into flames while attempting to land at a southern Indian airport today and 91 people were killed, authorities said.

The Airbus 320 crashed at 1 p.m. (11:30 p.m. Tuesday PST) while on final approach to the runway at Bangalore airport, airline and airport officials said. The plane apparently grazed a grove of trees and crashed about 50 yards from the runway, they said.

State-run television showed shots of the crash site, a grassy plain on a golf course adjacent to the airport. The craft’s tail was intact, but its fuselage was shattered and charred and the nose smashed.

“The crash occurred before the plane touched the runway, and it caught fire as soon as it crashed,” said P. S. Shetty, airport manager in Bombay, where the hourlong flight originated.

The crash was the first by the sophisticated Airbus 320 on a commercial flight. One of the planes crashed during a demonstration flight at an air show in eastern France in 1988, killing three people and injuring 50.

Airline officials said the plane, which was an hour behind schedule, carried 139 passengers and a crew of seven.

One airline official said 17 foreigners were believed to be on the flight. The foreigners included two Americans, a Frenchman, two Canadians, three Japanese and a Hong Kong resident, all of whom survived, said the spokesman.

“My husband’s presence of mind helped me to get out of the aircraft through the back door,” said Marook Sadhwa, a 29-year-old Canadian who was being treated for burns. “As soon as we came out, we ran for a few yards and there were two or three minor explosions.”

Local villagers rushed out of their huts and across the field littered with baggage and debris toward the flaming wreckage. Local police were called to try to keep them away.

Airline officials did not know what caused the crash, but they said weather was not a factor. The jet was acquired by the nation’s government-run domestic carrier about three months ago for $38 million.

After Indian Airlines announced it was adding 31 Airbus 320s to its aging fleet of Boeing, Fokker and Avro planes, news reports criticized the airline for failing to adequately train pilots to fly the sophisticated aircraft, the first civilian airliner with a fully computerized flight control system.

Developed at a cost of nearly $2 billion, the A320 was certified for flight on Feb. 26, 1988, and went into service in April, 1988.