​​Crash at the Airport and Gate Fire

On the evening of March 7, 1994, an Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-86 arrived in Delhi from Singapore. The aircraft was scheduled to continue to Tashkent and then Moscow. However, during pre-flight preparations, a malfunction was detected in the oil system of one of the engines. As a result, the flight was delayed to carry out repairs.

The crew and passengers were accommodated in a hotel, and the aircraft was towed to a remote stand. Maintenance work was performed there, including a test engine run, which lasted throughout the night. Only the following day was the aircraft towed to the gate for boarding of crew and passengers before continuing on its Delhi–Tashkent–Moscow route.

At the same time, a Boeing 737-2R4C operated by Sahara India Airlines was performing a training flight in the vicinity of Delhi Airport. On board were four people: a training captain and three trainee pilots. They were practicing go-arounds and simulating various system failures.

During a simulated engine failure, one of the trainee pilots incorrectly applied rudder input in the opposite direction of what was required. The aircraft entered a left turn at an altitude of approximately 100 meters, with increasing bank toward the airport. At about 30 meters, the bank angle and descent trajectory steepened to 60-70°, and the flight crew were no longer able to recover. The aircraft impacted the concrete apron of Delhi Airport in close proximity to the Il-86 and was completely destroyed.

The incident occurred approximately one hour before the scheduled departure of the Russian airliner, so no passengers or flight crew were on board at the time. Only ground personnel were present, processing technical documentation: two Aeroflot engineers, an airline representative’s assistant, and three Indian ground technicians.

The burning debris from the crash partially destroyed the Il-86 and ignited a fire, which nearly consumed the entire aircraft and passengers’ luggage. All four crew members aboard the Boeing 737 were killed, along with three people on board the Il-86: the two Aeroflot engineers and one Indian technician. The airline representative’s assistant later died in the hospital from burn injuries. The remaining two Indian ground personnel sustained burns but survived. In addition, a fuel company employee on the ground was also killed.

The investigation concluded that the accident was caused by the trainee pilot’s incorrect rudder input during the engine failure simulation. The instructor failed to monitor or override rudder control and did not issue clear commands during the simulated failure exercise.