Anatomy of a crash: Lessons for Indian aviation from a 69-year-old tragedy

The plane crash in Ghatkopar, Mumbai has a curious parallel from almost exactly 69 years back. On July 12, 1949 the KLM Constellation aircraft Franeker crashed in the hills between Ghatkopar and Powai, killing the 34 passengers and 11 crew members aboard.

It was India’s worst air disaster till that date and it attracted international attention because the victims included a large group of American journalists, including HR Knickerbocker, a Pulitzer Prize winner who had become famous in the years leading to World War II for his prescient reporting from Berlin about the dangers of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

The plane was on its way back to Europe from Indonesia, where the journalists had been taken by the Dutch government in an attempt to show their side of the ongoing liberation struggle. In sympathy with the revolutionaries, newly independent India and Pakistan had initially refused permission for the colonial government’s carrier to land and refuel, as was required by the aircraft of that time. India had relented and allowed the plane to land in Delhi, but Pakistan apparently refused permission for it to land in Karachi.


According to the detailed report in the Times of India (ToI) on July 13, this was why it had to attempt the difficult monsoon landing in Bombay. The plane had made a first approach, but with runway “temporarily unserviceable”, it had taken off for another sweep. The Ghatkopar area is now a concrete jungle, but it was almost an actual jungle at that time. The ToI reported on how locals had heard “a deafening detonation” and gone to investigate through “thick undergrowth, across waterlogged fields and nullahs swollen by unceasing rain.” Horrifyingly, the first victim they found was still alive, “a woman in agony”. She died as they tried to help her.

ToI reported the international attention that followed and the funerals of the victims. Most of them were buried between the city’s Haines Road and Sewri cemeteries, with the two Chinese origin victims being interred at the Chinese cemetery at Antop Hill. “The Chinese consul performed the obsequies which included the burning of joss sticks and the offering of food and wine to the spirits of the dead.” Most important of all, ToI followed the formal inquiry.

This placed the blame on pilot error, but also urgently recommended upgradation of Santa Cruz airport, which clearly had to be ready to deal with a huge increase in air traffic, in all weathers. The measures included “development of the east-west runway at Santa Cruz airport as the main instrument runway, equipping it with high intensity lighting and approach lighting” and more equipment, all for an estimated cost of Rs 34 lakh.

The recommendations also included blowing up the tops of the hills which had caused the problems and installing permanent beacons. The latter was done, but the reduction was not felt to be feasible at that time. Yet over the decades this has effectively happened simply due to rampant development—but with the substitution of tall buildings as a new hazard. The new crash in Ghatkopar is a stark reminder of the problems that remain with such a busy airport in an intensely crowded area. The crash was both tragic in itself and a vivid warning of a far worse disaster waiting to happen with a larger aircraft. Bombay in 1949 learned from the Ghatkopar crash and upgraded Santa Cruz airport. Will Mumbai in 2018 learn from this crash and expedite development of its much-needed second airport.