Incident Overview

Date: Sunday 1 September 1957
Aircraft Type: Douglas C-47A-25-DK (DC-3)
Owner/operator: Indian Airlines
Registration Number: VT-AUA
Location: Calcutta-Dum Dum Airport (CCU) – ÿ India
Phase of Flight: Taxi
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Component Affected: Radar-assisted approach and final approach phase.Radar-assisted approach and final approach phase.
Category: Accident
An Airwork Hermes G-AKFP experienced a near-miss incident during a flight from Blackbushe to Singapore. The aircraft was cleared for a runway 19L ILS approach in Calcutta, but experienced an overshoot and subsequently transitioned to visual landing at runway 01R. Radar guidance led to a collision with an Indian Airlines DC-3, resulting in significant damage to the DC-3. The incident was caused by a commander?s error in downgrading the Right-to-Turn (R/T) maneuver during the final phase of the radar-assisted approach.An Airwork Hermes G-AKFP experienced a near-miss incident during a flight from Blackbushe to Singapore. The aircraft was cleared for a runway 19L ILS approach in Calcutta, but experienced an overshoot and subsequently transitioned to visual landing at runway 01R. Radar guidance led to a collision with an Indian Airlines DC-3, resulting in significant damage to the DC-3. The incident was caused by a commander?s error in downgrading the Right-to-Turn (R/T) maneuver during the final phase of the radar-assisted approach.

Description

Airwork Hermes G-AKFP was on a flight from Blackbushe to Singapore with intermediate stops at Karachi, Delhi, and Calcutta. Approaching Calcutta, the Hermes was cleared for a runway 19L ILS approach 04:41. At break-off height shower passed and the crew were not able to see the runway; an overshoot was carried out. At 05:01 ATC offered the captain a radar assisted approach to runway 01R; he was no. 2 to land at that moment. Radar Control then guided the aircraft and cleared it for a visual landing at 05:29. At that moment the aircraft was one mile from the threshold and to the left of the runway 01R centreline. After breaking through clouds the captain observed the runway. R/T was turned down and the captain continued visually. In fact the Hermes was approaching runway 01L. An Indian Airlines DC-3 has just been cleared to line up and hold on runway 01L. On landing, the Hermes struck the DC-3. PROBABLE CAUSE: “An error on the part of the Commander of the Hermes aircraft in turning down the R/T during the final stage of the radar assisted approach and in deciding to continue the approach under conditions which did not enable him to identify positively the correct runway.”

Source of Information

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19570902&printsec=frontpage&hl=enhttps://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19570902&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

Primary Cause

Commander?s error in downgrading the R/T maneuver during the final phase of the radar-assisted approach, resulting in insufficient positive identification of the correct runway.Commander?s error in downgrading the R/T maneuver during the final phase of the radar-assisted approach, resulting in insufficient positive identification of the correct runway.

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