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Air India Flight 403

21 Jun 1982 · Sahar International Airport, Mumbai, India

Boeing 707–437 · Pilot error; inclement weather as a contributing factor

From Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport (SZB) to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM)

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Event

Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
Event fatalities
17 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
111
Survivors
94
InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
25
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Airline

Boeing 707–437

Flight
AI403
Aircraft type
Boeing 707
Category
Airplane · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
VT-DJJ
Operator
Air India
Onboard fatalities
17
Route
From Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport (SZB)To Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM)

Cause areas

  • Personnel issues › Task performance
  • Personnel issues › Psychological

From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.

Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.

From the Wikipedia article

Air India Flight 403 was a scheduled Air India passenger flight operated by a Boeing 707 that crashed at Sahar International Airport in Bombay, India, on 21 June 1982. It was likely caused by miscalculated altitude in a heavy rainstorm.

Accident

On 21 June 1982, Flight 403 crashed after a botched go-around during a rainstorm. Out of 111 occupants on the aircraft, 2 of 12 crew members and 15 of 99 passengers were killed. One of the survivors was Raja Ramanna, an Indian nuclear physicist.

Investigation and cause

Investigation

An Indian public inquiry determined the probable cause of the accident to be "Deliberate reduction of engine power by the pilot 12 seconds prior to first impact due to altitude unawareness resulting in a high rate of descent, very heavy landing and the undershooting of the aircraft by 1300 feet."

Text from the Wikipedia article “Air India Flight 403” (revision 1369897787, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article

Sources

Wikipedia article: Air India Flight 403
Article
Air India Flight 403
Revision
1369897787 · 2026-08-17 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q4698032
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
Record
Wikipedia article "Air India Flight 403" (page 23250429, revision 1369897787)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
Wikipedia article coordinates
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
airline flight number in the infobox
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.