1999 HAL 748 accident near Arakkonam
Defence Research and Development Organisation Hindustan HAL 748-219 Srs. 2 · The 1999 HAL 748 accident near Arakkonam occurred on 11 January 1999 on the test flight of a Hindustan HAL 748-219 Srs
From Arakkonam naval base, India to Tambaram military airfield, India
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
- 8 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- 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
- Government
Hindustan HAL 748-219 Srs. 2
- Aircraft type
- Hindustan HAL-748
- 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
- H-2175
- Onboard fatalities
- 8
- Route
- From Arakkonam naval base, IndiaTo Tambaram military airfield, India
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft structures
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
The 1999 HAL 748 accident near Arakkonam occurred on 11 January 1999 on the test flight of a Hindustan HAL 748-219 Srs. 2 of the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation equipped with a radome. Shortly after take-off the aircraft broke apart and crashed to the ground, with all occupants on board killed. It was the last accident of a HAL 748 worldwide.
Accident sequence
After take-off from Arakkonam Naval Base en route to Tambaram Air Force Base, the captain contacted air traffic control, declared an emergency and reported serious technical problems. He was given permission to return for an emergency landing. On final approach the aircraft went out of control and crashed into a dense forest area 2.5 km short of the runway. The aircraft was destroyed and all eight occupants were killed.
Investigation and cause
Cause
Since the radome was found about 500 metres from the main wreckage, it was assumed that the crew lost control of the aircraft after the dome on top of the fuselage had come loose and struck the tail unit.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall einer HAL 748 bei Arakkonam 1999” (revision 239549721, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Flugunfall einer HAL 748 bei Arakkonam 1999
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 239549721 · 2023-11-28 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q121438793
- 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
- de Wikipedia article "Flugunfall einer HAL 748 bei Arakkonam 1999" (page 12778506, revision 239549721), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- none
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A test flight of an aircraft belonging to India's defence research agency, which is a state research body rather than an armed force. The article: "on the test flight of a Hindustan HAL 748-219 Srs. 2 of the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation equipped with a radome"
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.