The crash of an Alliance Air Boeing 737-200 Adv on approach to Patna, India, on 17 July killed all but seven of the 58 people on board, the Indian investigation team reports.
The 737 was inbound from Calcutta, and the flight was due to terminate in New Delhi. None of the seven crew survived. Alliance Air is a low-fare feeder carrier set up in 1996 by Indian Airlines.
More than one of the survivors say that an engine was on fire and that the aircraft was shaking before impact, but this has not yet been confirmed. The 20-year-old aircraft was destroyed by fire, but the flight data and cockpit voice recorders have been recovered.
There was no distress call from the crew, and the aircraft hit the ground among buildings about 2km (1nm) short of the runway in fair but hazy weather, with a reported visibility of 4km. There are also known to have been fatalities on the ground, but the numbers are not confirmed.
Source: Flight International
