1949 Bharat Airways accident

The 1949 Bharat Airways accident occurred on 30 December 1949. On that day a Bharat Airways Douglas DC-4/C-54A-DO, which was on a domestic cargo flight from Agartala to Calcutta, crashed during an emergency landing near Comilla in East Pakistan (today: Bangladesh). As a result of the accident seven people on the ground died; in addition, the aircraft's radio operator died four months after the accident from the consequences of the accident.

Accident sequence

The aircraft was on the domestic cargo flight from Agartala to Calcutta when a fire broke out in the cargo compartment. The captain then descended the aircraft and the pilots looked out for a suitable place for an emergency landing. He managed a crash landing on a grassy plain near Comilla, East Pakistan. After touchdown the aircraft slid a few more metres on the underside of its fuselage before coming to a stop in flames. When the aircraft had come to a stop, the crew members began to leave it, while several residents of a neighbouring village ran to the accident site and gathered around the burning aircraft. Shortly afterwards the Douglas's tanks exploded, killing and injuring several villagers. The Pakistani authorities stated that seven people had died as a result of the accident.

The aircraft's 27-year-old radio operator died of his injuries on 19 April 1950 in a hospital in London. He had suffered severe burns in the accident. Since, according to international standards, a fatality of an air accident is only recognised as such if the person dies within 30 days, the radio operator is not listed as a fatality in the official accident statistics.