On 12 December 1953, Douglas C-47 Skytrain VT-CHF crashed on takeoff from Sonegaon Airport, following loss of engine power and an attempt to return to the airport. Of the 14 people on board, only the captain survived.
On 2 February 1955, Douglas C-47 Skytrain VT-CVB crashed on climb out after takeoff from Sonegaon Airport while making a turn, all 10 occupants killed.
On 15 May 1956, Douglas C-47 Skytrain VT-DBA overran Tribhuvan Airport after landing too fast. 14 out of the 33 onboard did not survive, a person on the ground also died.
On 24 March 1958, Douglas C-47 Skytrain VT-CYN stalled and crash on approach to Tribhuvan Airport following navigational error in poor weather conditions, all 20 occupants killed.
On 29 March 1959, Douglas C-47 Skytrain VT-CGI experienced structural failure and crashed while on approach to Silchar Airport in bad weather, all 24 onboard died.
On 15 November 1961, Vickers Viscount VT-DIH was damaged beyond economic repair when the co-pilot retracted the undercarriage during landing at Ratmalana Airport, Colombo, Ceylon.
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On 3 June 1963, Douglas DC-3 VT-AUL crashed after takeoff from Pathankot Airport, breaking up in midair after jammed rudder. None of the 29 passengers and crew onboard survived.
On 11 September 1963, Vickers Viscount VT-DIO crashed 51 kilometres (32 mi) south of Agra, killing all 18 people on board.
On 7 February 1966, Fokker F27 Friendship PH-SAB chartered by Schreiner Airways struck the mountain range of Pir Panjal in Banihal Pass following navigational error, all 33 onboard killed.
On 18 February 1969, Douglas DC-3 VT-CJH crashed on take-off from Jaipur – Sanganer Airport on a scheduled passenger flight. The aircraft was overloaded and take-off was either downwind or with a crosswind. All 30 people on board survived.
On 21 April 1969, a Fokker F27 Friendship plane crashed in a thunderstorm while crossing East Pakistan (now Bangladeshi) airspace on its flight from Agartala to Calcutta, killing all 44 people on board.
1970s
On 29 August 1970, a Fokker F27 flew into high terrain near Silchar shortly after takeoff, killing the five crew members and their 34 passengers.
On 30 January 1971, in the 1971 Indian Airlines hijacking, a Fokker F27 on a scheduled flight from Srinagar to Jammu was hijacked to Lahore by Ashraf and Hashim Qureshi, two Kashmiri terrorists. Passengers were returned to India on 2 February, but the hijackers destroyed the aircraft. India and Pakistan, blaming each other's intelligence services, each banned the other country's overflights and India-Pakistan flights until 1976.
On 9 August 1971, a Vickers Viscount VT-DIX was damaged beyond economic repair when it overran the runway at Jaipur Airport. The aircraft was landed with a tailwind on a wet runway.
On 9 December 1971, a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 near Chinnamanur was descending into Madurai when it flew into high terrain about 50 mi (80 km) from the airport, killing the four crew members and all 17 passengers. The accident occurred in reduced visibility during daylight hours.
On 11 August 1972, a Fokker F27 at New Delhi lost altitude and crashed after aborting a landing. The four crew members and the 14 passengers were killed.
On 15 March 1973, a HAL 748-224 Series 2 (VT-EAU) crashed near Begumpet Airport during a training flight, killing all three crew on board and one person on the ground. The pilots were drunk.
On 31 May 1973, Flight 440, a Boeing 737 (registered VT-EAM), crashed and burned during landing at New Delhi, killing five of the seven crew members and 43 of the 58 passengers.
On 12 October 1976, Flight 171, a Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle, had its right engine catch fire shortly after takeoff from Bombay. The crew attempted to return, but fuel flow to the engine was not stopped. When the fire spread through the fuselage and the hydraulic system failed, the aircraft controls failed before landing. All six crew members and their 89 passengers were killed.
On 17 December 1978, a Boeing 737-2A8 (VT-EAL) slid off the runway at Begumpet Airport following a wheels-up landing when the leading edge devices failed to deploy on takeoff, killing one of 132 on board and another three on the ground.
On 4 August 1979, a HAL 748-224 Series 2 (VT-DXJ) aircraft was approaching Bombay Airport at night and in poor weather when it flew into high terrain approximately 6 mi (9.7 km) from the airport, killing the four crew members and their 41 passengers.
1980s
On 19 August 1981, Flight 557, a HAL 748 (VT-DXF) overshot the 5,783 feet (1,763 m) runway at Mangalore Airport in wet weather. The aircraft came to a halt just beyond the runway edge. While there were no fatalities, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and was written off. One of the passengers on board was Veerappa Moily, the then Finance Minister of Karnataka.
On 24 August 1984, Seven young hijackers demanded an Indian Airlines jetliner IC 421, on a domestic flight from Delhi to Srinagar with 100 passengers on board, be flown to the United States. The plane was taken to Lahore, Karachi and finally to Dubai where the defense minister of UAE negotiated the release of the passengers. This hijack was related to the secessionist struggle in the Indian state of Punjab. The hijacker was subsequently extradited by UAE authorities to India, who handed over the pistol recovered from the hijacker.
On 29 September 1986, an Airbus A300B2-1C (registered VT-ELV) overrun the runway at Chennai International Airport during aborted takeoff caused by bird strike. None of 196 people on board were injured but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
On 19 October 1988, Flight 113, a Boeing 737 (registered VT-EAH) hit an electric mast 5 mi (8.0 km) out on approach to Ahmedabad in poor visibility, killing the six crew members and all but two of the 129 passengers.
1990s
On 14 February 1990, Flight 605, an Airbus A320 crashed on final approach at HAL Airport, Bangalore. 92 people on board were killed and 54 survived.
On 16 August 1991, Flight 257, a Boeing 737 (registered VT-EFL) crashed on its descent into Imphal, killing all 69 occupants. The flight operating on the Calcutta-Imphal sector crashed into Thangjing Hills, about 20 nautical miles (40 km) south-west of the Imphal airport. The aircraft had taken off from Calcutta and began a descent into Imphal airport with the visibility at that time being seven kilometers. However, the aircraft lost contact with Imphal airport on the Instrument Landing System. The search and rescue efforts were hampered by bad weather conditions and a slushy terrain. The probable cause of the accident was attributed to an "error on the part of the Pilot-in-Command in not adhering to the operational flight.
On 26 April 1993, Flight 491, a Boeing 737 (registered VT-ECQ) started its takeoff from Aurangabad's runway 09 in hot and humid temperatures. After lifting off almost at the end of the runway, it heavily collided with a lorry on a highway at the end of the runway. The left main landing gear, left engine bottom cowling and thrust reverser impacted the left side of the truck at a height of nearly seven feet from the level of the road. Thereafter the aircraft hit the high tension electric wires nearly 3 km North-East of the runway and hit the ground, causing 63 Injuries and 55 fatalities.
On 15 November 1993, Indian Airlines Flight 440, an Airbus A300 (registered VT-EDV) executed a missed approach at Hyderabad's Begumpet Airport due to poor visibility, but the flaps failed to retract. After trying to solve the problem while flying in the vicinity of Hyderabad, the crew eventually diverted the aircraft to Chennai. The delay in diverting, and the need to fly slower due to the extended flaps, resulted in the aircraft running out of fuel on the way. The aircraft force-landed in a paddy field and was damaged beyond repair. All 262 people on board survived. Telugu actors Chiranjeevi and Bala Krishna and Allu Ramalingaiah survived this crash attracting widespread attention.
On 24 December 1999, Flight 814, an Airbus A300B2-101 (registered VT-EDW) was hijacked just after taking off from Kathmandu, Nepal to Delhi. The plane flew around different points in the subcontinent and the Middle east. It finally landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, as officials of the government of India and the Taliban negotiated. One passenger was killed and some were released. On 31 December 1999, the rest of the hostages were freed in exchange for the release of Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Maulana Masood Azhar. Indian Airlines, India's sole domestic airline up to 1993, was hijacked 16 times, from 1971 to 1999.
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