1947 Korangi Creek crash
Air India Douglas C-48C · Loss of control due to instrument failure during night conditions
From Jinnah International Airport (KHI) to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM)
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
- 23 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 23
- Survivors
- 0
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
Douglas C-48C
- Aircraft type
- Douglas C-48
- 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-AUG
- Operator
- Air India
- Onboard fatalities
- 23
- Route
- From Jinnah International Airport (KHI)To Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM)
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The Korangi Creek crash took place on 27 December 1947 when an Air India flight from Karachi to Bombay crashed shortly after takeoff. All 19 passengers and 4 crew members were killed. Poor visibility and malfunctioning instruments in the cockpit led the pilots to lose control. The Douglas C-48 aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
This was the first airline fatality in Pakistan after its independence in 1947. As of 2022, it is the 15th worst aircraft accident in the country.
Events
The aircraft was on an international scheduled flight from Karachi to Bombay, carrying 19 passengers and 4 crew members. The pilot had called the mechanic to the cockpit just before takeoff to inspect an instrument light failure. The problem was fixed after the fuses were replaced, however, the mechanic was recalled as only one of the landing lights was operational. The captain decided to conduct this flight using only this light. He also remarked that he could smell something burning.
Ten minutes after takeoff, the aircraft was observed to be losing altitude over Korangi Creek Cantonment, and crashed with engines under power. It hit the ground at an angle of 30° whilst in a violent side slip to starboard. All 23 occupants were killed.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1947 Korangi Creek crash” (revision 1369827979, 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: 1947 Korangi Creek crash
- Article
- 1947 Korangi Creek crash
- Revision
- 1369827979 · 2026-08-17 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4565993
- 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 "1947 Korangi Creek crash" (page 31436884, revision 1369827979)
- 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
- operator is an airline according to Wikidata
- 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.